US astronaut Scott Kelly throws Super Bowl party in space

US astronaut Scott Kelly, currently on the International Space Station (ISS), has revealed on social media he organised a Super Bowl party, but “no one showed up.”

Kelly is now 318 days into his one-year mission on the ISS and sent pictures of Super Bowl venue Levi’s Stadium from outer space, around 250 miles from the earth’s surface.

The NASA astronaut wrote on Facebook: “Hosted Super Bowl party on the International Space Station but no one showed up!”

Capt. Kelly, 51, of Orange New Jersey, is currently part of an experiment looking at effects on the human body of long periods in space. His companion in the study is Russian astronaut Mihail Korniyenko.

Kelly recently broke the American record for the total number of days spent in space. The record had stood since 2007, and was held by astronaut Michael López-Alegría, with 215 days in space. 

A NASA spokesman had reported crew on board the ISS would be given time off vitals tasks on Sunday to watch the big game. “Crew will be able to watch in real time,” Dan Huot told website space.com in an email.

As well as Kelly and Korniyenko, the ISS currently hosts four other crew. British astronaut Tim Peake had his spacewalk cut short on Friday evening after a bubble of water was seen in the helmet of Finnish-American crewmate Tim Kopra. Two Russian cosmonauts, Yuri Malenchenko and Sergey Volkov, make up the full complement.

Space.com reports Kelly is a Houston Texans fan and had previously spent time watching the football during Thanksgiving with fellow crewmates.

It’s estimated Super Bowl 50 itself was viewed by upwards of 150 million people globally – including astronaut Kelly. In a dream end to his season – and possibly career – 39-year old Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning helped his team to a 24-10 victory in front of over 70,000 stadium fans in Santa Clara.