Space
station commander Pavel
Vinogradov will not smack a golf ball into orbit outside the International
Space Station (ISS) during a planned spacewalk next week, NASA officials have
said.
Vinogradov,
commander of the station's Expedition
13 mission, was slated
to hit a golf ball into space during a June 1 spacewalk as part of an agreement
between Russia's Federal Space Agency and the Canadian golf equipment firm
Element 21 (E21) Golf Co.
"It's
definitely not in this one," NASA ISS spokesperson Kylie Clem told SPACE.com
of the golf shot. "We've been told that it's been pushed to the next [Russian]
spacewalk."
Clem said a
specific reason for the postponement was not given, though Russian spacewalk
planners continue to work out the timeline for the upcoming extravehicular
activity (EVA). During that spacewalk, Vinogradov and Expedition 13 flight
engineer Jeffrey
Williams are expected to don Russian-built Orlan spacesuits
and install a new hydrogen vent line for the station's Elektron
oxygen generator, replace a camera on the outpost's railcar-like Mobile
Transporter and perform other tasks.
The camera
replacement was a late addition by NASA station managers, Clem said, adding
that the U.S. activity does not appear to be a driving factor for the golf
shot's move.
Clem said
the golf shot is now scheduled for the next Russian ISS spacewalk, set for
November, by Expedition
14 astronauts Michael Lopez-Alegria and Mikhail Tyurin.
The golf activity
is part of Toronto-based Element 21's publicity campaign to commemorate this
year's 35th anniversary of astronaut Alan Shepard's Moon
golf antics during NASA's Apollo
14 lunar mission. Video from the event will be used in an upcoming
commercial, and the golf ball to be hit is packed with transmitters so its
flight - expected to last up to three years - can be tracked via Element 21's
website.
"Just about
every single record for distance in the golf industry will be shattered this
fall when an astronaut will hit a golf ball into orbit around the Earth using
an E21 golf club," Element 21 said in a statement earlier this month.
A
gold-plated Element 21 six iron, several golf balls, an equipment bag, tee and
specially-built platform were hauled
to the ISS alongside regular supplies by unmanned Russian cargo ships in
anticipation of the orbital birdie.
Despite the
event's postponement, NASA ISS officials will proceed with a safety review to
ensure the golf swing or flying ball itself will pose no hazard to the space
station. Russian cosmonaut Sergei
Krikalev, who commanded Expedition
11 aboard the ISS, participated
in previous orbital tests during his term aboard the station.
"We're
still going to continue with the safety evaluation and have it done as soon as
possible," Clem said.
Element 21
is not the first firm to seek commercial video activities aboard the ISS. Last
year, Japan's Nissin Food Products Co. filmed
a commercial featuring a Russian cosmonaut inside the station as part of
its "Cup Noodle No Border" campaign using a camera launched to the ISS for the
Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA).
Meanwhile,
Expedition 13's Vinogradov and Williams are gearing up for their planned
five-hour and 40-minute spacewalk next week. The EVA, to be the sixth for
Vinogradov and the second for Williams, is the first of two spacewalks planned
for the Expedition 13 mission.
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