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Table tennis is one of the most intense quick-reaction sports in the world, but not so much -- it turns out -- if you're trying to play in space.

Nasa / Scott Kelly


Astronaut Scott Kelly celebrated his 300th day in space aboard the International Space Station by recreating, as much as physically possible without gravity, a game of ping pong.

Instead of the usual wooden bats with highly-treated rubber attached Kelly used "super-hydrophobic polycarbonate ping pong paddles" and a ball of water. "I wanted to do a little demonstration of these paddles, they're called hydrophobic paddles and they repel water like a rain coat," Kelly said in a 4K video posted online. "Up here on the space station they allow you to play ping pong with a ball of water. It's pretty cool."


During Kelly's 300 days in space, among a variety of science experiments, he has eaten space lettuce and grown a flower as part of his year long in space.

Explaining how the paddles work Nasa said the smaller the water drop the harder it can be hit with one of the paddles -- the larger a drop is the less force it takes to break it up, as its surface tension isn't as great.

"The paddles are polycarbonate laser etched so that the surfaces are actually arrays of 300 micrometer posts (0.3mm). "The surfaces were then spray coated with a Teflon coat. The combined effects of surface roughness and non-wettability produce a super-hydrophobic surface capable of preventing water adhesion in dynamic processes."