Sunday, November 19, 2006

Teeing Off From The ISS

Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin is planning to hit 3 golf balls off the International Space Station on Wednesday. The stunt is sponsored by E21, which is paying the Russian Federal Space Agency for the chance. The golf club will be made from an "exotic metal" and the balls, at 3 grams, are hardly regulation. But they will be tracked and may stay in orbit for days or longer.

From the NASA press release:
The six-hour spacewalk includes a commercial golf demonstration by Tyurin. Under a commercial agreement between the Russian Federal Space Agency and a Canadian golf company, Tyurin will hit a golf ball into space from a spring-mounted tee on the ladder next to the hatch of Pirs. The ball will be tapped over the back of the station's Russian segment so that the ball travels away from the complex. NASA flight controllers have calculated that it will burn up in the atmosphere in about three days. The ball weighs much less than the standard 45 gram golf ball. The ball used for this demonstration weighs three grams, approximately the weight of three paper clips.

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