Shanks in Space!

Gxgolfer · November 23, 2006

Russian cosmonaut slaps golf ball into orbit

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20061123/sc_nm/space_golf_dc

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin smacked a golf ball into orbit off the
International Space Station on Wednesday to raise money for the Russian space program during a spacewalk cut short by a balky spacesuit.
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Tyurin, the station's flight engineer, made a one-armed swing with a gold-plated six-iron to send the lightweight ball on a journey estimated to take it around the Earth at least 48 times before it burns up in the atmosphere.

He spent 16 minutes setting up the shot off a ladder on a Russian docking module with the help of U.S. astronaut Michael Lopez-Alegria and the guidance of Russian flight controllers.

"OK, there it goes," said Tyurin, who has played golf twice in his life. "It went pretty far. It was an excellent shot."

Canadian golf club maker Element 21 Golf Co. paid the cash-strapped Russian space agency an undisclosed amount of money for Tyurin's golf exhibition, which was filmed for a future commercial.

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pitbull808 · November 23, 2006

Hmmmm....looking at his grip, he must have took lessons from that guy Albert from BBVI. ;)

acrazygolfer · November 23, 2006

That ball just flew over the house. ;)

theinsider · November 24, 2006

I hope this promo helps their bottom line.

An excerpt from their recent annual report...

"We have a history of substantial operating losses and an accumulated deficit of $17,212,576 as of June 30, 2006, of which $3,261,401 represents development stage losses. For the year ended June 30, 2006, our net loss was $4,496,095. We have historically experienced cash flow difficulties primarily because our expenses have exceeded our revenues. We expect to incur additional operating losses for the immediate near future. These factors, among others, raise significant doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern. If we are unable to generate sufficient revenue from our operations to pay expenses or we are unable to obtain additional financing on commercially reasonable terms, our business, financial condition and results of operations will be materially and adversely affected.

We will need additional financing in order to continue our operations which we may not be able to raise."