Astronauts spend their free time in outer space binge-watching TV

The Atlantic

Astronaut Drew Feustel says he used his free time in space to binge through seven seasons of Game of Thrones while on the International Space Station. “People said it might be interesting, and it seems pretty popular down here,” he says. “So I took the time to try to get caught up on all the episodes and see what all the fuss about—and enjoyed it.” As Marina Koren reports, "It’s not only Game of Thrones. Astronauts watch all kinds of entertainment on the ISS, from TV shows and films to sporting events and cable news, usually on their laptops. (Feustel’s favorite was car races, like Formula One.) On Saturday nights, the crew might watch a movie together on a 65-inch screen that was installed in 2015. Earlier this week, they watched Star Wars in honor of May 4, the unofficial holiday of the franchise. The station is stocked with DVDs, and astronauts can request more in regular cargo deliveries, if there’s room. But most of the media is beamed up as digital files." NASA spokesperson Stephanie Schierholz adds: "Space-station crew members request whatever programming they would like to see, and mission control arranges for those television shows to be uplinked to them on their (laptops). The connection is quick. Essentially the delay is not any different than the TV broadcast in your house."