Celebrate the 'AstrOlympics' During the Winter Games in Italy
The ‘AstrOlympics’ project connects the amazing physical feats of the athletes competing in the Olympic Games to the spectacular physical phenomena discovered by NASA and other telescopes in space.
By comparing examples of speed, acceleration, time, mass, rotation, density, and more of athletes on the ground to objects in space, viewers of AstrOlympics may find new appreciation and inspiration from both.
The AstrOlympics project, which runs for both the Summer and Winter Games, has been celebrating cosmic and athletic triumphs since 2016. It was conceived of and developed by the science center for NASA’s Chandra X-ray Observatory, which is operated by the Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory on behalf of NASA.
“We started the AstrOlympics project to highlight the shared physics behind extraordinary feats—whether they happen on the Olympic stage or across the universe,” said Dr. Kimberly Arcand, Chandra visualization scientist and emerging tech lead. “It’s a way to connect what people can see and feel on Earth with the forces at work in space.”
To reach the widest possible audience during the Milano Cortina Olympics, the AstrOlympics project is working with the United States Department of State via their American Spaces (physical locations around the world where visitors can learn about the United States) and the U.S. Embassy in Rome, the National Institute for Astrophysics (INAF), Italy’s primary research organization for astronomy and astrophysics, and U.S. based libraries, museums, science centers, schools and more. Over 200 locations in the U.S. and abroad will be showcasing the AstrOlympics posters and materials, from a library in Oklahoma to an American Embassy in Fiji.
The AstrOlympics project includes a series of posters on different physical properties, which can be downloaded at the AstrOlympics website. The website also provides the information in multiple formats and links to additional resources and information, with translations available in Italian, Spanish and French.
The 2026 Winter Olympic Games will be held from February 6-22, 2026. More information on the Chandra X-ray Observatory can be found at https://chandra.si.edu and https://www.nasa.gov/chandra
NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville, Alabama, manages the Chandra program. The Smithsonian Astrophysical Observatory's Chandra X-ray Center controls science operations from Cambridge, Massachusetts, and flight operations from Burlington, Massachusetts.