Cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov showed what happens when you flip a coin aboard the International Space Station (ISS) - and explained how it really might be possible to play 'heads or tails' despite the lack of gravity - in exclusive footage filmed on Monday, February 5.
"Let's try to toss," he said, before flipping a commemorative token from the space mission as his makeshift 'coin'.
"It worked. [But] then the coin hits the ceiling, flies further and continues to hit different objects. Accordingly, you realise that it will never lie down in weightlessness on any side of any surface until it reaches the ventilation grate," he said.
However, the enterprising cosmonaut also suggested a way to play the game of chance and stop the coin from spinning - by using magnets.
"Each of the laptops that we use have magnetic steel elements in this area," he explained.
"It is possible, I think, to adjust, to learn how to throw a coin; if I had a coin made of a magnetic material, [I could] throw it to this particular area, to pick it up and throw it like this," he added, demonstrating the idea with a pair of scissors.
Borisov arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft with the Crew-7 expedition on August 27.
The crew also included NASA astronaut and Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
Borisov is the third Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket, after Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the station in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.
In a spin! Cosmonaut Borisov plays 'heads or tails' with zero-gravity coin flip aboard ISS *EXCLUSIVE*
Cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov showed what happens when you flip a coin aboard the International Space Station (ISS) - and explained how it really might be possible to play 'heads or tails' despite the lack of gravity - in exclusive footage filmed on Monday, February 5.
"Let's try to toss," he said, before flipping a commemorative token from the space mission as his makeshift 'coin'.
"It worked. [But] then the coin hits the ceiling, flies further and continues to hit different objects. Accordingly, you realise that it will never lie down in weightlessness on any side of any surface until it reaches the ventilation grate," he said.
However, the enterprising cosmonaut also suggested a way to play the game of chance and stop the coin from spinning - by using magnets.
"Each of the laptops that we use have magnetic steel elements in this area," he explained.
"It is possible, I think, to adjust, to learn how to throw a coin; if I had a coin made of a magnetic material, [I could] throw it to this particular area, to pick it up and throw it like this," he added, demonstrating the idea with a pair of scissors.
Borisov arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft with the Crew-7 expedition on August 27.
The crew also included NASA astronaut and Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
Borisov is the third Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket, after Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the station in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.
Cosmonaut Konstantin Borisov showed what happens when you flip a coin aboard the International Space Station (ISS) - and explained how it really might be possible to play 'heads or tails' despite the lack of gravity - in exclusive footage filmed on Monday, February 5.
"Let's try to toss," he said, before flipping a commemorative token from the space mission as his makeshift 'coin'.
"It worked. [But] then the coin hits the ceiling, flies further and continues to hit different objects. Accordingly, you realise that it will never lie down in weightlessness on any side of any surface until it reaches the ventilation grate," he said.
However, the enterprising cosmonaut also suggested a way to play the game of chance and stop the coin from spinning - by using magnets.
"Each of the laptops that we use have magnetic steel elements in this area," he explained.
"It is possible, I think, to adjust, to learn how to throw a coin; if I had a coin made of a magnetic material, [I could] throw it to this particular area, to pick it up and throw it like this," he added, demonstrating the idea with a pair of scissors.
Borisov arrived at the ISS aboard a SpaceX Crew Dragon craft with the Crew-7 expedition on August 27.
The crew also included NASA astronaut and Crew-7 commander Jasmin Moghbeli, European Space Agency (ESA) astronaut Andreas Mogensen and Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) astronaut Satoshi Furukawa.
Borisov is the third Russian cosmonaut to travel to the ISS aboard a SpaceX rocket, after Anna Kikina and Andrey Fedyaev, who arrived at the station in October 2022 and March 2023, respectively.