Why Sports in Space Could Be the Next Big Thing

Now that space tourism has arrived, the subsequent frontier is in view: area sports activities.

Pursuits from area soccer to Martian mountaineering are already in early planning levels. “People going into space are competitive thrill-seekers,” says Allison Dollar, co-founder of the Space Tourism Conference, an annual occasion organized for the aerospace, design and leisure industries by the nonprofit Space Tourism Society. “The novelty of pondering Earth from the stars will at some point wear off—it’s only natural that we evolve to have sports in space.”