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Astrojax Basic Tricks

Astrojax is a toy that combines juggling skills with the deft string action of a yo-yo. It is three weighted balls on a string: one secured at each end and one strung in the middle and left free to move back and forth. The object is to perform tricks in the same way a yo-yo is used, with the weighted balls swinging back and forth in patterns interesting to the eye. Some Astrojaxes have lights that can make dazzling patterns in the dark.

Types of Astrojax
- The basic version is the Astrojax Plus, which is simply three soft polyurethane balls with weights inside. They are best for rebounding tricks which involve bouncing the balls off objects, and for general training. The Astrojax V-Max has harder polycarbonate balls, which are better for advanced fast action tricks. The Saturn version has LED lights in red, green and yellow, which can be set for continuous light or strobe. The Blue Diamond has LEDs all in blue. The Aqua is filled with liquid, which lowers inertia more than the standard metal weights.
History
- The toy was first invented by a physics graduate student named Larry Shaw in 1987, while experimenting with hex nuts and dental floss. It took two years and many prototypes before he settled on the final design for the toy. It was first marketed five years later as "Orbit Balls," and won several toy awards during the 1990s. Astrojax has been widely available in the United States since 2003 and is part of NASA's Toys In Space program on the international space station. It was demonstrated in zero gravity for the amusement of school children in a live broadcast in 2002 at the Houston Museum of Natural History.
Basic Tricks
- For a horizontal orbit, hold the top and bottom balls and set the middle ball spinning by giving the others a circular motion. Once the counterweight middle ball is going, let go of the bottom ball and it will level out to a flat spin.
  
  For a vertical orbit, the procedure is the same except that the motion is a vertical tugging of the upper ball rather than a horizontal circle.
  
  A "butterfly" starts with a vertical orbit, then you move the top hand to the left and right to create a figure-eight motion with the bottom ball.
  
  In a "switch" maneuver, the swinging bottom ball is caught and the top ball released so they change places.
  
  The "thriller" has both end balls swinging in opposite directions around the middle ball. Hold the middle ball and get one end ball going in one direction and toss the other end ball in the opposite orbit. The width of the middle ball will cause the end balls to miss each other as they pass.

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