VIDEO: Japanese astronaut plays spaceball

WASHINGTON – During his six month stay on the International Space Station (ISS), Japanese astronaut Satoshi Furukawa passed his time playing a little bit of America’s favorite pastime.

The 47-year-old from Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan pulled out a bat and a ball to play a little baseball — against himself.

In his NASA bio, Furukawa lists baseball among activities he enjoys. The others included bowling and travelling.

The married father of two can be seen in the video throwing the baseball and then “racing” to the other side to hit the ball with a bat.

Furukawa returned to earth this month, and noted on his Twitter page “I felt the weight of things about twice as heavy as I had used to feel (a piece of paper, a pencil, a notebook, cell phone, etc.).

Follow WTOP on Twitter.

(Copyright 2011 by WTOP. All Rights Reserved.)

Federal News Network Logo
Log in to your WTOP account for notifications and alerts customized for you.

Sign up