Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin was late for his tee time in space, 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-iron and with 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 north-west Pacific Ocean. The shot, which veered a little to the right, kicked off a problem-plagued slightly shortened 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 one 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-programme-derived metal. Eat your heart out John Daly.
That’s a huge exaggeration, according to Nasa’s leading 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 three grams, only about 1/15th the weight of a normal golf ball. It weighs less to minimise 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. Eat your heart out Sergio Garcia.
Tyurin, a veteran spacewalker but rookie golfer who was already more than an hour late, was cranky about the advice. Nasa spacewalk commentator Rob Navias, who was not broadcasting in golf’s traditional hushed tones, noted that Tyurin’s shot sliced to the right. Eat your heart out Tiger Woods.
An agitated Tyurin opted not to take a planned second or third shot.
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.
