Cosmonaut Tees Up for 2 Billion-Mile Golf Shot

HOUSTON, March 6, 2006 — -- It's not exactly the hallowed grass of Scotland's St. Andrews golf course. Temperatures will range from minus 150 degrees to 150 degrees in just 90 minutes, and there won't be a fairway in sight.

On July 31, cosmonaut Panel Vinogradov will play golf during a six-hour spacewalk on the International Space Station.

How do you hit a golf ball in zero gravity? Vinogradov will start by attaching a platform to the International Space Station. It has a tee shaped like an ice cream cone that will cradle the ball. He will then use a 6-iron to gently hit a gold-plated golf ball into orbit. It will be the longest drive ever hit, because this ball is expected to travel 2.1 billion miles before it plunges into the Earth's orbit and burns up in three years or four years.

It's a publicity stunt for golf-club manufacturer Element 21 and it's timed to coincide with the 35th anniversary of the first golf shot in space. Element 21 is paying the Russian Space Agency to have its cosmonaut hit the ball, but spokesmen for Element 21 and the Russian Space Agency declined to say how much money the stunt cost.

The Russian Space Agency has long been strapped for cash so it regularly sells seats -- or advertising -- on the Soyuz to anyone with a few million dollars to spare.

NASA administrator Mike Griffin bristled when reporters questioned the safety of playing golf for commercial reasons on the International Space Station.

"The space station partners have the right to propose and to conduct commercial activities on the station, provided that all appropriate safety considerations have been dealt with," Griffin said. "We are not at the end of that particular road as yet, but we will pursue it."

Golf in space isn't a done deal yet. Flight directors at the Johnson Space Center are still analyzing the golf proposal to make sure it will not jeopardize the International Space Station. Once a golf ball launches off the space station into orbit, it becomes space debris. Engineers are constantly watching the space station, and flight directors in Mission Control will change its orbit to dodge debris that could smash into it.