Golf Ball Stays in Orbit
WEDNESDAY, 6 DECEMBER 2006
New reports were released stating that the golf shot by Mikhail Tyurin off the International Space Station on Thanksgiving Day has exceeded NASA predictions of a 3 day orbit, and continues to extend its record-breaking flight.
The E21 golf ball is one of the smallest objects in orbit around the Earth that is being tracked on a real time basis. The exact location of the ball at any moment can be viewed at http://www.e21.ca/golf_ball_tracking/.
Mikhail, who has only played golf twice in his life, hit the ball using both arms, unlike Alan Shepard's one handed golf shot on the moon. "OK, there it goes," Mr. Tyurin noted with satisfaction. "It went pretty far. It was an excellent shot." By the end the day, the ball will have traveled over 6,000,000 miles. Every additional second of flight adds about 6 miles of distance.
Like many earthbound golf enthusiasts, his tee time was delayed, although it was not due to slow play by a foursome ahead. For nearly an hour, Mr. Tyurin worked on a kink in the cooling line to his makeshift $6 million golf outfit before he was ready to exit the ISS Golf Club house, when notably he spent another 16 minutes setting up the shot and looking around, savoring the moment, waiting to tee off for the first time on the 30 billion dollar driving range. Mikhail Tyurin used a gold-plated E21 six-iron and golf ball. Gold plating was required for the ball to make it highly reflective for laser tracking.
Mikhail may be able to answer your questions about playing golf on the International Space Station. Please address your email to mikhailtyurin@e21golf.com, or visit www.e21golf.com.
The ISS exterior camera used to broadcast the event was not in a position to offer a good view of the event. Additionally, E21's own camera was positioned just behind the tee, and filmed the event, footage of which will be made available through Element 21 Golf Company.
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