As the FIFA World Cup gets underway, NASA is taking space science to soccer fans in Houston.
From June 11 to July 19, 2026, NASA will host an exhibit at FIFA Fan Festival Houston where visitors can learn how research aboard the International Space Station benefits life on Earth and experience missions in low Earth orbit, the Moon and beyond through the Artemis program.
NASA’s exhibit at Fan Festival Houston opens to the public on June 11, the day the FIFA World Cup begins. The event is free to attend and open for every match of the tournament in East Downtown, Houston.
On June 20, Johnson Space Center Director Vanessa Wyche will introduce select Artemis II crew members following their historic mission around the Moon. The crew will take part in World Cup activities ahead of the Netherlands-Sweden match in Houston and appear on the Fan Festival Houston main stage to share their experience with fans.
NASA said its connection to the World Cup goes beyond the exhibit floor and reaches orbit through research and technology tied to the game.
For more than 25 years, research aboard the International Space Station has supported advances in science, technology and human health, while also contributing to innovations used on Earth. That includes studies aimed at improving understanding of the aerodynamics and physics involved in soccer ball flight.
In partnership with the ISS National Laboratory in 2019, researchers used the station’s microgravity environment to study how a soccer ball’s internal mass affects its motion, stability and rotation. NASA said the findings improved understanding of how embedded technologies, including match-ball sensors, can influence performance during play.
The research contributed to studies used in the development and evaluation of soccer balls for major international tournaments, including FIFA World Cup competition.
NASA said understanding the relationship between an object’s centre of mass and its geometric centre helps predict how free-flying objects move, including spacecraft, satellites and aircraft.
Since 2022, Adidas has embedded electronics inside official match balls used in major tournaments. NASA said the sensors track speed, position and contact in real time to support officiating and broadcast technology, but also add mass in specific locations inside the ball, and uneven mass distribution can affect how a ball moves through the air.
NASA said the space-based research has helped improve understanding of how internal mass, including embedded sensors, can influence stability and rotation in real-world playing conditions.
The work builds on earlier research into how spinning objects behave in microgravity. Engineers at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley, California, tested Adidas’ Brazuca ball, developed for the 2014 FIFA World Cup, in wind tunnel conditions at the Fluid Mechanics Laboratory.
Researchers studied aerodynamic behaviour, including how low-spin kicks can produce “knuckling,” where the ball moves unpredictably due to unstable airflow across the seams. NASA engineers measured the speeds and flow conditions where this effect was most pronounced.
NASA said adjustments in panel shape, seam depth and surface texture can influence flight consistency, helping determine if a ball curves, dips or holds its line during play.
NASA and Adidas are now presenting that science through a STEMonstration that compares how differently balanced soccer balls spin and move in microgravity. NASA said the experiment shows how the same physics that governs motion in space also shapes the game watched by millions on Earth.
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