Roscomos Confirms Green Light For E21 Golf Company Golf Shot In Space

Element 21 Golf Company reports the announcement by Igor Panarin, spokesman for the Russian Space Agency, that a cosmonaut at the International Space Station (ISS) will play golf in outer space and in zero gravity conditions for the first time in history.

The space golf shot is scheduled for the night of November 22 at between 6 pm to 7 pm (EST) while technically a day later at 2 am – 3 am (Moscow time), paying tribute to an American astronaut Alan Shepard Jr., who played golf on the Moon in 1971 during the Apollo 14 mission.

Mr. Panarin disclosed that: "During his space walk, Mikhail Tyurin will send a ball in the direction opposite to the ISS, so the golf ball will go into its orbit safely below the space station. This was one of the conditions set by NASA to allow the longest golf shot to take place on ISS."

Tyurin's partner on the 14th international mission to the ISS, American Michael Lopez-Alegria, will photograph and videotape the moment reported RIA News Agency in Moscow today following the Russian Space Agency press conference. Major Russian newspaper MK, with circulation of about 800,000 copies a day, posted calculations suggesting several years in orbit.

Russian experts and NASA confirm that golf ball will pose no danger to the ISS or orbiting satellites. The golf ball will become one of the smallest tracked human-made satellites orbiting the earth. Its orbit will decay either after 3 days or 3.5 – 4 years in orbit, depending on whether NASA or Russian Space experts are correct.

E21 management is betting on the extensive analysis of the Russian Space Agency. Dr. Nataliya Hearn noted: "We were evaluating taking out a $75 million dollar insurance policy just to be safe. However, we're pretty confident that Mikhail won't have to take a 'mulligan.' LPGA Hall of Fame golfer Carol Mann and PGA Director of Instruction Rick Martino have coached Mikhail down here on Earth. He may not be ready to break 100 on a real golf course, but we're pretty confident that he's going to break all distance records this Thanksgiving Day."