9/9/2009 – On August 28 Swedish astronaut Christer Fuglesang blasted off into space, on the 128th mission of NASA's Space Shuttle program. He conducted a seven-hour space walk at the International Space Station, and also continued his chess game against the readers of a Swedish newspaper. Both the astronaut, who has a tough position, and his opponents have lovely prizes waiting for them.
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Swedish Astronaut to play Chess from Space
The leading Swedish newspaper Dagens Nyheter is covering a chess game between
the astronaut Christer Fuglesang, who is orbiting Earth in the International
Space Station, and the Swedish public. Fuglesang was transported to the ISS
by the space shuttle Discovery, which blazed into orbit on August 28 with seven
astronauts on board (see images below).
Dagens Nyheter is covering the game "move by move" in the printed
version of the newspaper. Chess moderators pick out three different moves that
the public, playing black, are able to choose from by voting online. The move
that gets the most votes is sent out to space. Anyone can join in, and there
are some interesting prizes to win, as the newspaper reports:
A unique prize awaits Christer Fuglesang and one lucky reader when
the chess game is over. Five World Chess Champions have signed two chess games
on Dagens Nyheter's behalf.
Garri Kasparov, Anatoli Karpov, Vladimir Kramnik, Boris Spasskij and Viswanathan
Anand, all World Champions, and the latter, Anand, in fact the reigning one.
They became so interested when they heard about DN.se's chess game, with Christer
Fuglesang playing from space against the newspaper's readers, they agreed to
jointly sign two software chess game as prizes – one for Christer and
one for the readers who will be raffled in a dedicated chess quiz launched shortly
here on DN.se.
That so many chess greats were all gathered together at one time is extremely
rare, and happened
recently when the world's oldest chess club celebrated its anniversary in
Zurich. "It's like a conjunction of planets that occurs only once every
hundred years," says Frederic Friedel of the German company ChessBase,
who attended the meeting in Zurich and made sure that the autographs were collected.
He also says that the reigning world champion Viswanathan Anand and other grandmasters
have agreed to help Christer Fuglesang if he gets into trouble during his game.
"It is unique that all these World Champions come together simultaneously,
and it is unique to have these autographs in the same place," says Robert
Unt from the Swedish Chess Academy, the association who were the driving force
behind space game, the idea for which originated with Christer Fuglesang himself,
who is also a member of the Chess Academy.
Black (the readers) is a pawn up and has brought tremendous pressure to bear
on White's king. With his last move the astronaut has set a little trap: capturing
the rook on g2 with the knight would lead to a recapture by the king and a double
attack on the black rook and bishop. So the latter must retreat, but where should
it go? [Click to replay]
The midnight launch of NASA's space shuttle Discovery at 11:59 p.m. EDT on
Friday, August 28, 2009, was one of the most spectacular in recent memory. It
is well documented by photos provided by the Space Agency.
Rollout of space shuttle Discovery was slow-going due to the onset of lightning
in the area of Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Photo
Courtesy of Justin Dernier/EPA
Billows of smoke and steam rise above Launch Pad 39A at NASA's Kennedy Space
Center in Florida alongside space shuttle Discovery as it races toward space
on the STS-128 mission. The STS-128 mission is the 30th International Space
Station assembly flight and the 128th space shuttle flight. The 13-day mission
will deliver more than seven tons of supplies, science racks and equipment,
as well as additional environmental hardware to sustain six crew members on
the International Space Station. The equipment includes a freezer to store research
samples, a new sleeping compartment and the COLBERT treadmill. Image: NASA/Sandra
Joseph and Kevin O'Connell.
Viewed from the Banana River Viewing Site at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida, space shuttle Discovery arcs through a cloud-brushed sky, lighted by
the trail of fire after launch on the STS-128 mission. Liftoff from Launch Pad
39A was on time at 11:59 p.m. EDT. The first launch attempt on Aug. 24 was postponed
due to unfavorable weather conditions. The second attempt on Aug. 25 also was
postponed due to an issue with a valve in space shuttle Discovery's main propulsion
system. Image: NASA/Ben Cooper.
Endeavour performs a backflip, officially known as the Rendezvous Pitch Maneuver,
shortly before docking with the International Space Station. The backflip allows
astronauts on the station to photograph the orbiter's underside, one of several
procedures designed to inspect the shuttle's heat shield. Photo NASA.
European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang is visible in the reflection
of NASA astronaut Danny Olivas's helmet visor during this, the STS-128 mission's
third and final spacewalk. Olivas and Fuglesang deployed the Payload Attachment
System, replaced the Rate Gyro Assembly #2, installed two GPS antennae and worked
to prepare for the installation of Node 3 next year. Image NASA.
Before boarding a space shuttle to leave the International Space Station Christer
Fuglesang showed how "sweet" a space mission can be. During a special
video downlink held with Swedish officials and celebrities early Monday morning,
Fuglesang and fellow European Space Agency astronaut Frank De Winne from Belgium
let loose several small space shuttle shaped candies, before catching them with
their mouths, Pac-Man style.
Return to Earth
Space shuttle Discovery and its seven-member crew are expected to return to
Earth Thursday. Two landing opportunities at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in
Florida are available at 7:05 p.m. and 8:42 p.m. EDT. NASA will evaluate weather
conditions at Kennedy before permitting Discovery and its crew to land. If bad
weather prevents a return on Thursday, both Kennedy and the backup landing site
at Edwards Air Force Base in California will be activated for consideration
on Friday.
Born March 18, 1957 in Stockholm, Sweden. Graduated from Bromma Gymnasium,
Stockholm, Sweden, in 1975; received a master of science degree in Engineering
Physics from the Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm, Sweden, in
1981; received a doctorate in Experimental Particle Physics from the University
of Stockholm in 1987. He became a Docent in Particle Physics at the University
of Stockholm in 1991. Honorary Doctorate from Umeå University, Sweden
(1999). Honorary Doctorate from the University of Nova Gorica, Slovenia (2007).
NASA Space Flight Medal (2007). H.M. The King’s Medal (Stockholm, 2007).
Married to Elisabeth Walldie, three children. He enjoys sports, sailing, skiing,
frisbee, games and reading.
As a graduate student, Fuglesang worked at CERN (European Research Center on
Particle Physics) in Geneva on the UA5 experiment, which studied proton-antiproton
collisions. In 1988 he became a Fellow of CERN, where he worked on the CPLEAR
experiment studying the subtle CP-violation of Kaon-particles. After a year
he became a Senior Fellow and head of the particle identification subdetector.
In November 1990, Fuglesang obtained a position at the Manne Siegbahn Institute
of Physics, Stockholm, but remained stationed at CERN for another year working
towards the new large hadron collider project. Since 1980, when stationed in
Sweden, Fuglesang taught mathematics at the Royal Institute of Technology.
Fuglesang during an EVA (extra-vehicular activity) – Image NASA
Christer Fuglesang entered the Mission Specialist Class at NASA Johnson Space
Center, Houston, in August 1996, and qualified for flight assignment as a mission
specialist in April 1998. From May to October 1998, he resumed training at TsPK
on Soyuz-TM spacecraft operations for de-docking, atmospheric re-entry and landing.
He was awarded the Russian 'Soyuz Return Commander' certificate, which qualifies
him to command a three-person Soyuz capsule on its return from space.
Christer is a member of ESA’s European Astronaut Corps, whose home base
is the European Astronaut Center located in Cologne, Germany. He was assigned
collateral duties in the NASA-JSC Astronaut Office and was assigned to the ISS
Payload Branch. He has logged over 308 hours in space, including three EVAs
(spacewalks) totalling 18 hours and 14 minutes.
Previous ChessBase reports
Swedish Astronaut to play Chess from Space 21.08.2009 – Remember American astronaut
Greg Chamitoff, who a year ago played chess against the NASA ground
stations. Well, now European Space Agency astronaut Christer Fuglesang,
Sweden, is going to do the same, playing a game against the Swedish
public. Right now Fuglesang is in quarantine awaiting an August 24th
launch. But the game has already started, and you
can take part.
Get Ready for Earth vs. Space 26.09.2008 – On Monday, September 29 Greg Chamitoff,
travelling 210 miles above the earth at five miles a second, will challenge
team earth to a ground-breaking Space Match. It is a unique event, pitting
the International Space Station astronaut against the residents of Earth,
guided by a team of schoolchildren. Rate of play is one move per day.
Press
release.
Chess in Space: Houston, we have a checkmate 29.08.2008 – How's this for an unusual chess
match: US astronaut Greg Chamitoff, who is currently aboard the International
Space Station, is playing against the Ground Stations. The first game
was won convincingly by Chamitoff, who is a decent amateur player. Now
he is playing six simultaneous games against different Ground Stations.
We have pictures and an indepth
interview with the astronaut.
The new Komodo Dragon 3 engine has gained 100 Elo points in playing strength over its predecessor when using a processor core in blitz. That's a huge improvement for a program that already reached at
an Elo level of over 3500!
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