NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration

Greg Chamitoff plays chess with ground controllers from inside the space station's Harmony module. Photo Credit: NASA
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Mission Control, Houston, and astronaut Greg Chamitoff, in orbit aboard the International Space Station, have begun a new game of chess. As time allows, the Expedition 17 science officer and Mission Control are taking turns making their strategic moves. What's your move?

Chamitoff, flight engineer for the Expedition 17 crew on the station, recently won his first chess match with ground controllers. You can see the moves made in that game here.

Chamitoff is now playing new games, one of which is with the control team in Houston. Each time the ground and Chamitoff makes a move, usually one each day, the NASA Web will provide a graphic update of the move and the current state of the board below. The move that is made will be updated at about 4 p.m. CDT on weekdays. Weekend moves will be updated on the following Monday.

You can tell us how you'd move if you were Mission Control by submitting a comment through the link below this story.

Chamitoff brought a chessboard with him when he arrived at the orbital complex with the STS-124 space shuttle crew in June. Aboard the station, he is supported by control centers at sites around the world -- in Houston, Moscow, Japan, Germany and France, among others. He introduced the first Earth vs. space chess match in a daily tag-up held with all control centers to address questions regarding the day’s work.

+ Game 2 Moves (PDF 45 Kb)