International Space Station - Russian Golf Event

NASA.gov (excerpt) ^ | November 22, 2006

[HAL9000]

Russian Golf Event

Flight Engineer Mikhail Tyurin tees off from the space station during the Expedition 14 spacewalk.

Click 'View this Video' at the link.

[HAL9000]

Expedition 14

Golf is the first major spacewalk activity. Lopez-Alegria will put the tee on the ladder outside Pirs. Tyurin will set up a camera and then step up and address the ball for his one-handed shot. Lopez-Alegria will help secure Tyurin's feet if necessary.

As many as three shots are possible during the commercial activity sponsored by a Canadian golf company through a contract with the Russian Federal Space Agency. The ball is expected to leave the station toward the rear and slightly upward at about one meter per second.

The ball weighs just 3 grams, a tenth of an ounce or about three times the weight of a dollar bill, compared to 1.62 ounces for a standard golf ball. At that weight it would be unlikely to damage any station components if the shot should go awry. The ball will have a short stay in orbit, perhaps three days.

[mutley]

What does this say about the space program?

Does it say that commercial entities can contribute significantly to the space program and should be welcomed for the financial input? Or does it say that serious space exploration is definitely dead, and cartoonish events like this are just demeaning?

[fat city]

The opening volley of The Space Golf Race.

The US should use a fairway wood- it is a water hole.

[Enosh]

I call center pocket.

[Paddlefish]

His grip isn't right for space. Way too much right hand. It was a left hook. ;-}

[So Cal Rocket]

In other space news, satellite controllers at NORAD could not explain the malfunction of the $1.5B Spy Satellite that went off-line today. Controllers cite hearing someone yell "FORE!" just before their screens went blank.

[Mr. Brightside]

Cosmonaut hits golf ball into space

By SETH BORENSTEIN, AP Science Writer

36 minutes ago



WASHINGTON - Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin was late for his tee time in space Wednesday, but still managed to launch a super-lightweight golf ball into orbit — even if he shanked his shot. Tyurin hit the golf ball 77 minutes behind schedule after delays to fix an overheating spacesuit and a stuck exterior hatch.

Using a gold-plated six-iorn and an American astronaut in the role of caddy-and-safety-holder, Tyurin hit the drive from a spring-like tee outside the international space station, 220 miles over the northwest Pacific Ocean. The shot, which veered a little to the right, kicked off a planned six-hour spacewalk.

"I can see it as a little dot moving away from us," Tyurin said.

But just how far did that baby go?

Like in any golf story, it depends on who you talk to.

That drive went a billion miles — or will by the time it eventually comes down in a couple years — said Nataliya Hearn, the president of Element 21 Golf Company. The Toronto firm is paying the cash-starved Russian space agency an undisclosed amount for the golf stunt to promote its new golf club that includes a space-program-derived metal.

That's a huge exaggeration, according to NASA's lead spacewalk flight director, Holly Ridings. She said NASA's calculations are that golf balls would only stay up two to three days, which would put the drive closer to a mere million miles.

Just how far the golf ball travels won't be known until the ball burns up and enters Earth's atmosphere. The ball weighs 3 grams, only about 1/15th the weight of a normal golf ball. It weighs less to minimize any damage should it actually strike something.

Like many golfers, Tyurin spent several minutes trying to get comfortable addressing the ball, but unlike his Earth-bound counterparts, at times he was upside down. He was tethered to the space station and had astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria holding on to him.

With Moscow Mission Control deliberating on how to position the ball on the tee, Tyurin, a veteran spacewalker but rookie golfer who was already more than an hour late, was cranky about the advice.

"The ball is the least of our concerns," Tyurin said. "It's me that is supposed to be positioned properly."

NASA spacewalk commentator Rob Navias, who was not broadcasting in golf's traditional hushed tones, noted that Tyurin's shot sliced to the right. An agitated Tyurin opted not to take a planned second or third shot.

For a few tense minutes it looked like Tyurin might miss his tee time and spacewalk entirely when his space suit overheated and the bulky hatch door got stuck.

Tyurin told flight controllers in Moscow that his spacesuit was too hot probably because of an excessively kinked cooling hose. Eventually, the suit started cooling, Tyurin got back in, and the tee time was a go.

After Tyurin's golf shot, Tyurin and Lopez-Alegria were slated to install science experiments, retract a stuck antenna on an attached cargo ship, and check out some bolts.

Tyurin's shot was not the first in space. Astronaut Alan Shepard took a swing on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20061123/ap_on_sc/space_station_golf

[cabojoe]

I watched it live. It took the two space walkers a lot of time and a lot of effort to even get the shot off. I came away with a new sense of how difficult it is to do anything in a spacesuit in orbit, especially building a station. I'll bet the video from the other angle which will be used for the commercial will look really cool.

[FreedomCalls]

Or does it say that serious space exploration is definitely dead, and cartoonish events like this are just demeaning?

Was it a sign that serious trans-oceanic exploration was dead in 1520 when Magellan's men put on coconut masks, grass skirts, danced a jig, dunked each other overboard, and proclaimed themselves "members of the Order of Neptune" when they crossed the equator?

[Eccl 10:2]

I see some commercial potential here. With space travel for civilians a coming reality, one could open the first outer space driving range.

[mutley]

"Was it a sign that serious trans-oceanic exploration was dead in 1520 when Magellan's men put on coconut masks, grass skirts, danced a jig, dunked each other overboard, and proclaimed themselves "members of the Order of Neptune" when they crossed the equator?"

If it were spontaneous or traditional in scope, like that, or like the golf shot on the moon even, I would be the first to agree. But there are different motivators at work here. Am I wrong?

[fat city]

"It took the two space walkers a lot of time and a lot of effort to even get the shot off."

Must have been a ladies foursome.

[Calvin Locke]

Ya know, there was a Chinese satellite that just died.

Ten days after launch.

[Thrownatbirth]

It weighs less to minimize any damage should it actually strike something.

That sorta takes the thrill out of it. :-(

[JennysCool]

Ha! Good post, FC!

Long Live Space Golf!

[monkapotamus]

The ball will probably take out another space walker next year. :-O

[Ronin]

Oh lighten up!

Besides, Americans did it first. Alan Shepard became the first man to hit a golfball on the Moon on Febuary 6, 1971.

[Calvin Locke]

...of how difficult it is to do anything in a spacesuit in orbit...

I think Gene Cernan might agree with you on that. He found out about the difficulties some 40 years ago.

And others, like the guys fixing Skylab.

The ISS turned out to be a big waste of time and resources, starving other NASA projects that actually contribute
to the advancement of science and knowledge.

[Rastus]

I have a bad feeling that little stunt is going to make the Borg aware of our existence.