FCBARCELONA.CAT

05.06.2009 10:25

Barça win is out of this world

www.fcbarcelona.cat

FC Barcelona's triumph in the Champions League final in Rome not only went round the world it was also celebrated in space as the crew of the Columbus mission received a photo of the team and news about the win.

Working as a telecommunications engineer for the project of the European Space Agency (ESA) in Munich is Blaugrana fan Sergi Ginebrera and he decided to include a report of the victory in the 'daily summary', an order of business for the day that the astronauts are sent each morning from Houston. A list of tasks and a news bulletin are sent in these summaries and after the win against Manchester United, the crew discovered that Barça had become the champions of Europe.

Photo included

The ESA director of communications accepted Ginebrera's proposal and the scoreline and report were included on the last page of the daily summary. Also included was a photo of the players receiving the Champions League trophy and that is now orbiting the earth inside the ship.

Below is the message that the astronauts received: ... and for all of you Soccer-Fans onboard ISS – the “Superbowl” of Soccer has been decided: F.C.Barcelona won over Manchester United 2-0 in the UEFA Champions League Final, which took place on GMT147 in Stadio Olimpico of Rome (goals scored by Eto'o and Messi).

This is a historical event, because for the very first time a Spanish team succeeded in winning all 3 possible titles in the same year: the National Championship and the National Cup in Spain and the European Champions League! They really deserve to be called the best Soccer team in the world right now! Congratulations!"

Space station

The module Columbus forms part of the International Space Station (ISS) and works directly with the control centre at NASA in Houston, but the project involves thousands of people working for several space agencies.