By Our Foreign Staff and Agencies in Tokyo
Last Updated: 7:39PM BST 19 May 2009
In a different test, Wakata used eye drops in zero gravity,
pressing out a small ball of the solution and letting it linger on
the tip of the bottle before putting it to his eye.
Wakata also folded laundry, having difficulty with a shirt and a
blue space overall, but accomplishing the task nevertheless.
http://video.telegraph.co.uk/services/player/bcpid1137883380?bctid=23746257001
Koichi Wakata also showed how difficult it is to do something as
simple as folding laundry and using eye drops as part of a series
of zero-gravity challenges submitted by the
public.
To test his magic carpet, he stood on a white sheet before gliding
smoothly through a cabin of the International Space Station, as if
snowboarding, which can be seen in a video clip posted by the
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (Jaxa).
"I flew on this magic carpet by using adhesive tape so that the
soles of my feet stayed on it," the 45-year-old astronaut revealed,
speaking into a microphone during what appeared at times like a
variety show.
The experiment was part of 16 offbeat tasks selected from ideas
sent to the space agency by hundreds of members of the Japanese
public, from nursery school pupils to a 90-year-old man.
Tackling another challenge, Mr Wakata showed how to use eye drops
in zero gravity, squeezing out a tiny ball of liquid and letting it
perch at the tip of the container before carefully bringing it to
his eye.
He also handled the awkward task of folding laundry in zero
gravity, struggling with a shirt and then, for added difficulty,
the floating arms and legs of a blue space overall.
He performed the tasks in the Japanese laboratory Kibo (Hope) of
the ISS on May 15, having also performed challenges in April,
including push-ups.