Astronaut Koichi Wakata Plays Baseball in Space, Elon Musk Reacts | Watch

Well-versed in human spaceflight, former astronaut Koichi Wakata recently posted a mesmerizing photo from the International Space Station (ISS). Wakata thrilled space fans by sharing a clip of himself playing solo baseball in microgravity on social media.

“It’s baseball season; the MLB season starts off in Japan. Expedition 68 saw me playing a baseball match alone. Wakata posted the video on platform X saying, “In microgravity you can play every one of the positions; you don’t need a whole team.”

Elon Musk, other prominent space personalities, and others prejudices.

Including a reaction from SpaceX founder Elon Musk, the video rapidly grabbed attention. First Canadian to head the ISS and well-known space explorer, Colonel Chris Hadfield also re-shared the video together with his own remarks.

Hadfield wrote in his blog post, “That’s friend Koichi Wakata inside the JAXA module of the International Space Station – Japan plays great baseball!”

Social media hails the space stunt.

The video was well received by internet users. Some admired Wakata’s abilities; others considered the possibilities for original sports in microgravity.

One member posted, “Seems exciting! What sort of sports would people invent or carry were mankind to move to space? Might there be a game called spaceball?” Another member posted, “Very impressive sir! Great reflexes!”

One user pointed out that the lighthearted moment made them smile; others found happiness in it.

The incredible space trip of Koichi Wakata

In 2014, Koichi Wakata entered the history books as the first Japanese astronaut to lead the ISS. His third long-duration trip, Crew-5, took him aboard Endurance, SpaceX’s Dragon spacecraft in 2022. He has flown three times over his career—once on the space shuttle, once on Soyuz, and once on Dragon—and has done two spacewalks with American astronaut Nicole Aunapu Mann.