Recently SpaceX and Qatar Airways scored an incredible goal by 'kicking' the official 2022 World Cup ball into space.
The official ball for the 2022 World Cup, named Al Rihla, was transported by a Falcon 9 rocket, to be precise, on the First Stage, which was launched into space. True to his skills, the First Stage returned and made it safely back to Earth.
The two Al Rihla balls traveled at least 123 km above Planet Earth. However, when the ball returned to Earth, Al Rihla had already traveled 1,300 km, as quoted by Doha News.
After that, the airline from Qatar brought the two Al Rihla balls to Famad International Airport, Qatar, which were then handed over to the organizers of this four-year football tournament.
"From outer space to the football field. We are bringing official football to Qatar's FIFA World Cup, being part of this historic out-of-this-world journey together with SpaceX and FIFA," said Qatar Airways.
The flight mission of the two Al Rihla balls is part of enlivening the 2022 World Cup which is taking place in Qatar. As for now, it has been confirmed that the final will bring together Argentina vs France, and Croatia vs Morocco to fight for third place.
Al Rihla is not the first official World Cup ball to be sent into space. Previously, there was already a Telstar 18 that was even brought to the Space Station (ISS) in 2018.
Al Rihla is supplied by a sports equipment company from Germany, Adidas. The name Al Rihla itself is taken from Arabic which means journey.
Not just any ball, Al Rihla is implanted with a 500 Hz motion sensor to assist the referee in determining, for example, a controversial goal occurs which cannot be seen by the human eye but can be overcome by technological sophistication.
This ball can also provide information on the location, impact, and movement of every kick and header on the field and even capture speeds of up to 500 frames per second. The sensors inside are also very important in implementing semi-automatic offside calls. This is what causes many goals canceled.
The battery for the sensor inside the ball is small and weighs only 14 grams. According to Adidas, the battery can last for six hours with active use. When not in use, the ball's battery lasts up to 18 days.