<\/p>
Could you imagine playing a football match on the Moon?<\/p>
What would kicking a football on the Moon be like? How far would the ball travel?<\/p>
And what kit and equipment might future footballers need to have a successful game on the Moon?<\/p>
With NASA set to return humans to the Moon via its Artemis<\/a> program, and the Lunar Gateway<\/a> planned to lead the way for a permanent settlement on the Moon, perhaps we’ll see a football match on the Moon within our lifetime.<\/p> A team of engineers and scientists from the Institution of Engineering and Technology<\/a> say the first game of football on the Moon could happen as early as 2035, and have devised a set of rules and guidance to facilitate a football match on the lunar surface.<\/p> So according to the Lunar Football Rule Book, what would a football match on the Moon look like?<\/p>\n On the Moon, football players would have to deal with dusty, unforgiving terrain, a lack of oxygen and potentially fatal risks of collision.<\/p> Lunar football would need to be a much safer non-contact sport, according to the IET.<\/p> Here is some of their guidance on key aspects of the game.<\/p> Gravity on the Moon is 1\/6th that of Earth, and the Moon of course lacks wind and air resistance.<\/p> A football kicked on the Moon would travel the same speed as on Earth – around 70mph – but about 6 times further.<\/p> A football pitch on the Moon would have to be created using ‘laser sintering’, say the IET, which would involve a laser being fired at the surface to melt particles, fusing them together in a single layer.<\/p> Otherwise, it would be impossible to achieve an level football pitch that won’t erode during the match and cause potential harm to players.<\/p> The IET Lunar Football Rule Book also says football players on the Moon would need a flexible, airtight suit with in-built elbow and knee pads.<\/p> The rule book calls for a cooling and heating system in players’ suits to adjust to the Moon’s climate, and a flannel to absorb sweat.<\/p> Of course, on the Moon, helmets would have to be worn to protect players from the harsh conditions and lack of oxygen.<\/p> These lunar football helmets would be required to enable communication between players and managers, feature a 180\u00b0 – 270\u00b0 view and an internal display to communicate referee decisions and red and yellow cards.<\/p> The referee would be stationed in a basecamp, but be on the pitch in the form of a hologram.<\/p> A football match on the Moon would need to be 5-a-side and no-contact, in order to ensure players’ safety.<\/p> This would mean possession of the ball would have to be gained through interception alone, as opposed to tackling.<\/p> And to avoid exhaustion, the IET rule book says a football pitch on the Moon would need to be 32x25m, making it 8 times smaller than a regular football pitch on Earth.<\/p> The rule book says matches should be played in 4 x 10-minute periods, with a 20-minute break between quarters for maintenance.<\/p> Football goalposts on the Moon would need to be 36ft wide and 9.6ft high (1.5 x wider and 1.2 x higher than on Earth, respectively).<\/p> This is to account for an enlarged football, which should be 1.5 x times the size of a regular football and marked in black and white, in order to stand out against the extreme brightness experienced by players on the lunar surface.<\/p> If you’ve ever heard football described as a ‘funny old game’, it seems that transferring the sport to the lunar surface would take things to the next level.<\/p> Download the full IET Lunar Football Rule Book<\/a> and, if you’re aged between 4-13 years old, enter the IET competition to design a Moon United Football Kit<\/a><\/em><\/strong>.<\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n By Published: Tuesday, 15 August 2023 at 13:08 PM Scientists devise rules for playing a football match on the Moon Could you imagine playing a football match on the Moon? What would kicking a football on the Moon be like? How far would the ball travel? And what kit and equipment might future footballers need […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":48675,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/scientists-devise-rules-for-playing-a-football-match-on-the-moon.png",2160,1132,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/scientists-devise-rules-for-playing-a-football-match-on-the-moon-150x150.png",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/scientists-devise-rules-for-playing-a-football-match-on-the-moon-300x157.png",300,157,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/scientists-devise-rules-for-playing-a-football-match-on-the-moon-768x402.png",768,402,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/scientists-devise-rules-for-playing-a-football-match-on-the-moon-1024x537.png",800,420,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/scientists-devise-rules-for-playing-a-football-match-on-the-moon-1536x805.png",1536,805,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/77\/2023\/08\/scientists-devise-rules-for-playing-a-football-match-on-the-moon-2048x1073.png",2048,1073,true]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"By Published: Tuesday, 15 August 2023 at 13:08 PM Scientists devise rules for playing a football match on the Moon Could you imagine playing a football match on the Moon? What would kicking a football on the Moon be like? How far would the ball travel? And what kit and equipment might future footballers need…","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/48674"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/48675"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48674"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcskyatnight\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48674"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}A guide to playing football on the Moon<\/strong><\/h2>
Gravity<\/strong><\/h3>
The pitch<\/strong><\/h3>
Football kits<\/strong><\/h3>
Football helmets<\/strong><\/h3>
Tackling<\/strong><\/h3>
Pitch dimensions and match duration<\/strong><\/h3>
Goalposts and ball size<\/strong><\/h3>
","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"