How Will Zero-G Affect Sports?
As a species, it is basically inevitable to avoid the fact that one day humanity will survive and thrive on many of the planets of the solar system, as well as in the vastness of space between them. Cities will spring up on the Moon, Mars, and maybe even other moons of the solar system. Meanwhile, transport vessels may spend weeks or even months in space ferrying cargo and people to their respective destinations. With the danger that microgravity and low-gravity pose to the strength and health of the human body, it becomes obvious that regular exercise and workout routines will be necessary to maintain a healthy human stature, lest face muscle or bone deterioration.
Certain sports, like hard contact sports, may see a decline in future years due to their relatively recently discovered link to brain problems. However, it is safe to say that many sports will continue to be prevalent in the ensuing centuries to help keep both the health and spirits of interplanetary citizens well tailored. Though it is possible to exercise without the contribution of a sport, many people prefer the competitive or team based atmosphere that a sport provides. We may also see sports move into the space environment simply because of pure curiosity, and the human drive to discover. So, with all of this understood, let’s take a look at modern, Earth-based sports to see why the rules are designed the way that they are.
Why Earth Sports are Easy
It is extremely easy to design a game when utilizing the effects of the Earth’s gravity. This is because of two main factors; friction, which I will come back to later, and two-dimensionality. A common sports observer may stop me right now and say, “but wait! Sports on Earth rely on three dimensions!” This observation, however, would quickly be deemed incorrect. Let’s take the most popular sport in the world (which, contrary popular American belief, isn’t US football).
The game of soccer is played on a two-dimensional, rectangular field where all of the players are largely confined to that surface. Players can run all along the ‘x’ and ‘y’ axes, but cannot (most of the time) travel above or below opposing players on the field. Even the ball, though it has the ability to travel far into the ‘z’ dimension, is usually strategically constrained to the second dimension where the players play. Even if players wanted to more heavily utilize the third dimension, gravity would always bring the game ball back down to the surface in which its potential energy is lowest. Hence why fields are two-dimensional.
Everything posed above is true for all Earth based sports in which the game is played on a court or a field. The smallest exception could be made for games like water polo, where players can engage in short-lived, underwater maneuvers to outwit their opponents, but even then, the players must resurface to the two-dimensional playing field. This and other small exceptions aside, the rules of two-dimensionality apply to almost every Earth based sport. This is what makes designing Earth-based games so easy!
The “goal” area, then, must also always be one or two dimensional. For soccer, this goal is a flat line on the back field extruded into the third dimension; a rectangle (with a technically unnecessary three-dimensional net to trap the ball from traveling into the stands). In basketball, the goal is a 2-D circular hoop which is parallel to the playing field. In football, this goal area is actually a one dimensional line with the same width as the field. The most dimensions you ever need to define a goal area in Earth based sports is two because players can never travel into the ‘z’ axis to shoot at this goal from above or below the field plane.
Another thing that makes Earth based sports so easy to design is their reliance on friction. With the help of gravity, players of any game can use their own weight to “dig in” to the court or field in order to accelerate or change directions. This allows Earth based sports to have open fields which are not contained within walls. With the existence of friction and gravity, a ball is also relatively constrained to the court or field in which it is being played.
Why Microgravity Sports are Hard
Let’s redesign soccer so that it could be played on a large, futuristic space station or interplanetary vessel (one which does not have artificial gravity). The most obvious first change is the modification of the field dimensionality, which will now have to be expanded to include the third dimension. If these games still wanted to allow for spectators, such a field would likely be constructed as a rectangular prism made of a high-yield, transparent material. Without the presence of gravity, the stadium could be designed as a sphere of “seats” which surround the field in all directions.
But wait… Where do the nets go? Remember, we have expanded the field to the third dimension now, so favoring one two-dimensional surface to construct the net would not be a good practice. There are a few possibilities. One prospect would be to make the net three dimensional, such as a CGI or holographic cube, which players could score at from above, below, or anywhere. This, however, poses complications for the goalie which stems from the difficulty of maneuvering in space to defend a 3-D net. A second, less complicated idea is that the nets could simply be embedded in the centers of each respective goal-line surface. This places them equidistant from the top and bottom surfaces, as well as the two side surfaces.
So our field is designed, but where do the players start the game? An astute reader would have already suggested that the players do not start on any of the surfaces, as to not favor any specific two dimensional plane. This time, however, there is another problem. If the players started in the center of this 3-D field, they would never be able to move due to the absence of gravity and friction. They could technically use air friction to “swim” across the field, but that could take hours, and would not be a very entertaining game to watch. In this case, a zero-G soccer game may have to start with the players on the walls, perhaps evenly spaced on all four playable surfaces (not using the goal-line surface, with the possible exception of the goalie).
Even with this setup, however, players still have no way to stop themselves after they have pushed off the walls. There are a few possible solutions to this problem as well. One idea would be to some form of grip, magnetic pads on feet and hands for example, so that players could stick to the walls when they come in contact with them to reorient themselves for another lunge. This would make it so that the playing surface would likely not be transparent, however. The event could simply be televised with interior cameras, or the field could be installed with physical grips, like handles or bars, that players could grasp in order to regain their bearings eliminating the need for a magnetic metal. The field size would likely also have to dramatically decrease in order for coherent games of space-soccer to be playable.
Now we need a ball. Like the goals, the ball cannot favor one two-dimensional surface over another, because then most of the game play would take place that surface. An obvious solution to this dilemma would be to have the ball alternate which surface it starts on after each goal or penalty. This, however, could encourage players to try to keep the ball on that 2-D surface, in the process basically creating a rotational version of traditional soccer. Instead, the ball could start at the exact center of the rectangular prism, forcing players to “jump” to the ball in order for a play to begin. This, however, creates the problem that there will simply be a central collision of space-soccer players, all of whom will lose their momentum upon collision and end up floating slowly and aimlessly across the field.
A major redesign is in order for the game to be both feasible and exciting. Instead of grips or magnetic boots, players could use gas jets, or small maneuvering thrusters, to propel themselves down the field and avoid undesirable entanglements with fellow players. This would keep the game feasible, fast-paced, and three dimensional, but defeats the purpose of making space-soccer a game to stay fit in space. It could still exist on a competitive level as a more cerebral form of traditional soccer, but other options must be installed in order to keep the game based on human energy.
Instead, the field could be outfitted with long poles which extend between parallel surfaces for players to cling to, maneuver around, and thrust off of. These maneuvering poles would both allow for players to start in the middle of the rectangular prism field, keep the outer walls transparent for spectators, and allow the ball to start at the center of the field without a hitch. Unfortunately, these poles could induce a safety hazard for rapidly traveling players who get knocked off course. The poles could simply be wrapped in a softer material, but that addition would inhibit the viewing ability of spectators. At this point, one may ask if the spectators are even necessary anymore.
Changes in Space-Based Sports
An entirely new article could be written about all the changes that would have to ensue in order to retrofit various Earth sports to the environments of a Moon or Mars base. In these locations, gravity and friction are still present, albeit much less prevalent than here on Earth. Fields on these locations may still be designed two dimensionally, but be built larger to compensate for the farther distances balls will travel. This creates its own set of further problems regarding field sizes.
Take a soccer field on the Moon, for example. To compensate for the farther distances a soccer ball could be kicked on the moon, a soccer field may have to be nearly a half mile (720 meters) long. A third dimensional barrier, of sorts, may be a solution to this example and in other sports. A domed net could be erected around a field to contain the ball, eliminating the standard boundaries of traditional soccer.
In addition to field changes, the actual structure of sports leagues will likely be altered as well. New leagues specific to competitions on the Moon, Mars, or zero-G environments will likely have to be instated, and would be completely incomparable to each other. Take baseball, for example. A home run on the Moon could not be directly associated to a home run on Earth, even if the Moon field was resized for lower gravity. The environments are inherently different, and would demand different sets of rules and specifications for them to operate.
Conclusion
As humanity continues to expand and grow into the solar system, we will take our traditions and practices with us. It is not unreasonable to say that most if not all Earth-based sports will find a way into space environments someday in the future. Perhaps the entire realm of sports will change as we evolve into space, and new unimaginable games will take advantage of the zero-G environment better than trying to adapt any of our Earth-based sports to it. As with all things pertaining to the future, only time will tell. But humans are extraordinarily creatures with awesome ingenuity. And soccer on the Moon may not be as far fetched as one might believe.
