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200、Canadian Firm Hopes for Orbital Hang Time in ISS Golf Shot Tariq Malik
Staff Writer
SPACE.com
Tue Nov 21, 3:00 PM ET



The Canadian sports equipment firm Element 21 is gearing up for an orbital kickoff for its space-age clubs in what promises to be the longest drive in the history of golf.

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On Wednesday, Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin will use a gold-plated Element 21 golf club to hit at least one ball off the International Space Station (ISS) [image]. The stunt will kick off a planned six-hour spacewalk by Tyurin and ISS Expedition 14 commander Michael Lopez-Alegria.

Video: Spacewalk Golf Expedition 14 lead spacewalk officer Glenda Laws narrates plans for a Nov. 22, 2006 spacewalk.

"We'll have opened a golf course in space," David Sindall, co-founder of the Toronto-based Element 21, told SPACE.com of the upcoming golf shot. "It's the smallest clubhouse definitely...but with the largest real estate, infinite real estate, and the longest fairway."


Clad in his bulky Russian-built Orlan spacesuit, Tyurin will make a one-handed swing with an Element 21 six-iron club, aiming an ultra-light golf ball out over the aft end of the ISS opposite the station's direction of travel.


Sindall and Element 21 president and CEO Nataliya Hearn have spent more than two years and an undisclosed amount of money, to pay Russia's Federal Space Agency for the spacewalk time, preparing for what they're billing as the "Golf Shot Around the World Mission."


Video of Tyurin's orbital shot will be used in an Element 21 commercial to promote the firm's golf clubs slated to hit the store shelves next year [image]. The clubs are made from the lightweight, yet sturdy, metal scandium, which has also been used on segments of the ISS and Russia's Mir space station.


"This is not just a one day or a several seconds event," Hearn told SPACE.com. "The ball will continue orbiting the Earth after the shot."


Days versus years


Just how long the ball orbits the Earth is the subject of some debate.


Element 21 and Russian space officials have estimated that the golf balls--Tyurin will carry three outside the ISS, but may not use them all--could remain in orbit for more than three years.     NASA officials, however, maintain the golf balls will circle Earth for a mere three days before burning up in the atmosphere.


"I believe our data to be accurate," NASA's deputy ISS program manager Kirk Shireman said last week. "I suspect that there were some initial conditions or assumptions that were provided."


The discrepancy could be traced to a change in the balls themselves.


Initially, Tyruin was slated to smack a gold-plated golf ball [image] that could be tracked from Earth, but his targets were later changed to white balls weighing only one-tenth of an ounce (three grams), or about one-third the weight of a U.S. dollar bill [image]. The average Earthly golf ball weighs about 1.5 ounces (45 grams).


The new golf balls' short orbital lifespan, direction of travel and light weight assures that the pose no debris risk to the ISS or NASA's upcoming shuttle launch on Dec. 7, the U.S. space agency said.


"It's about 1/15th of the weight of a regular golf ball," said Holly Ridings, NASA's lead Expedition 14 extravehicular activity (EVA) flight director. "There's absolutely no recontact issue with the ISS."


Anatomy of orbital golf


The orbital golf stunt is one-part commercial and one-part celebration to commemorate the 35th anniversary of a lunar tee-off by the late Alan Shepard during NASA's Apollo 14 mission to the Moon in 1971 [image]. The stunt was delayed from a July spacewalk to allow time to repair a camera on the space station's railcar-like Mobile Transport system.


"I took two classes on golf because of this," Tyurin said before the flight. "Golf is not a very popular game in Russia."

In fact, Tyurin--a hockey player at heart--trained with the Ladies Professional Golf Association (LPGA) Hall of Famer Carol Mann and PGA director of instruction Rick Martino on Earth, and donned an Orlan spacesuit for underwater practice as well.

"He's actually fallen in love with the game," Hearn said.

NASA video has shown Tyurin rehearsing the golf shot both inside and outside his spacesuit [image].

"I've tried to spend some time for additional practicing with my golf equipment to keep myself in good shape," Tyurin told Fox & Friends last month from orbit.

The Element 21 golf shot is the first item on the agenda for tomorrow's ISS spacewalk and will take place atop a ladder that juts out from the space station's Russian-built Pirs docking compartment that doubles as an EVA airlock.

Lopez-Alegria will record video Tyurin as he hits the golf ball aft over the space station's Russian-built Zvezda service module from a custom-built tee that resembles a sort of conical spring [image].

"We were making a joke that maybe we'd have a men's tee and a ladies tee," Hearn said. "The men would be aiming for Mars and the women would aim for Venus."

Hearn said she hopes the tee will remain on the ISS for use by future astronauts or space tourists. Sindall added that the firm has drawn up special medals to award future ISS clubhouse members whose dues would then go to charity [image].

The Element 21 golf club currently aboard the ISS has been signed by each astronaut to visit the station since its Fall 2005 arrival and will be returned later to be displayed in a museum or auctioned off for charity, Hearn said.

"We see this as the next revolution in the golf industry," Hearn said. "I think it's really making a statement that this material will change the face of golf."

ISS Astronauts Prepare for Golf Shot Spacewalk
Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 14
IMAGES: Launch Day for Expedition 14 Crew, Anousheh Ansari
IMAGES: Anousheh Ansari Prepares for Launch


Original Story: Canadian Firm Hopes for Orbital Hang Time in ISS Golf Shot
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201、China Moon Probe Readied For Next Year Liftoff Leonard David
Senior Space Writer
SPACE.com
Wed Nov 29, 11:30 AM ET




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China's unfolding space plans include that country's first foray into exploration of the Moon. A Chang'e I lunar orbiter is nearing final construction, being readied for rocketing to the Moon in 2007.




Preparations to launch Chang'e I--named after the Chinese goddess who flew to the Moon in a popular fairy tale--are to be completed by February for launch later next year, according to a November 29 report by China's Xinhua news agency.




Among several tasks, the orbiter will provide 3D images of the Moon's surface, chart elements on the Moon, measure the thickness of the lunar soil, as well as monitor the space environment between the Moon and Earth.




Chang'e I is based on China's Dongfanghong III telecommunication satellite platform.




Earlier accounts from China had noted that Chang'e I is headed for an April liftoff.




Moon tunes




Last month, Xinhua reported that Chang'e I would be filled with "Moon tunes"--songs selected by public vote and a panel of experts. The songs would be broadcast to Earth via the lunar orbiter.




A majority of the tunes are Chinese folk songs, with "My Wonderful Hometown" receiving top votes, followed by "I Love China," "Singing Praises of Motherland" and 27 others.




China's national anthem and "The East is Red"--broadcast from the country's first satellite of Earth back in 1970--will also be played from the Chang'e I.


Chang'e I is the first element of a multi-pronged lunar exploration program, the Xinhua report noted.


The Moon orbiter is to be followed in later years by a remote-controlled lunar rover that would perform experiments and send data back to Earth. In the third phase, an automated probe will be dispatched to the Moon that carries drilling gear to dig up lunar samples for return to Earth.


This three-part robotic exploration of the Moon would be wrapped up by 2017. At that time, China will consider a human mission to the Moon, the Xinhua news agency reported.

U.S.-China Cooperation: The Great Space Debate
Reports: China's Next Shenzhou Spacecraft Takes Shape
China Unveils Ambitious Space Plans at National Space Symposium
Shenzhou Rising: China’s Second Manned Spaceflight
Making History: China’s First Human Spaceflight
Special Report: Emerging China, Engaging China

Original Story: China Moon Probe Readied For Next Year Liftoff
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202、Chinese river dolphin nears extinction: Xinhua
Sat Dec 2, 2006 4:09am ET

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BEIJING (Reuters) - Scientists who spent nearly a month in a fruitless search for a Chinese river dolphin that is more endangered than the Giant Panda say there may be no more than 50 left alive, the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday.

The Baiji, also known as the Yangtze dolphin, only lives in China's longest river but a 26-day, 1,700-km (1,060-mile) hunt by Chinese and foreign experts failed to find any of the mammals.

"We can't say the white-flag dolphin is extinct," Xinhua quoted Wang Ding, vice director of the hydrobiology institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as saying.

"However, the population has dropped dramatically over the past decade ... If the situation cannot be improved, the white-flag dolphin may be extinct within 10 years," added Wang, who estimated the total population at no more than 50.


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The last expedition in 1997 found only 13 of the dolphins, which have suffered from pollution, overfishing, shipping and dams and other water diversions along the river.

China has set up a conservation base for the dolphin in a lake in central Hubei province, but as no dolphins have been caught in recent years hopes of using a breeding program to build up the population are fading.

203、Cosmonaut Careers: Russian Interest in Homegrown Spaceflyers Flags Simon Saradzhyan
Space News Correspondent
SPACE.com
Mon Nov 27, 10:30 AM ET



MOSCOW - A career as a cosmonaut--once the dream job of a lifetime for millions in this country--is increasingly less attractive because it is no longer the ticket to international fame or a fortune. As a result, the pool of qualified candidates for positions in Russia's cosmonaut corps is shrinking, experts said.

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"In the 1960s one would dream of becoming a cosmonaut, now the young men are dreaming of becoming bankers," said Sergei Shamsutdinov, an editor at the Novosti Kosmonavtiki magazine, which is published "under the aegis" of the Federal Space Agency (Roskosmos) and Space Forces. "The romantic aspect of the manned space exploration is no longer there; it has been replaced by gray daily routine," Shamsutdinov told Space News in a recent telephone interview.


More importantly, Shamsutdinov said, the current members of the Russian cosmonaut corps are far lower in the social hierarchy than they used to be in Soviet times.


Today their salaries are dwarfed by the hefty paychecks available to those working in the private sector. As a result, Shamsutdinov said, fewer students of the top Russian colleges such as the Moscow Bauman State Technical University, Moscow Aviation University and Moscow Engineering Physics Institute--the schools that traditionally educated future cosmonauts--are interested in joining the next generation of Russian cosmonauts.


"These universities offer very good, fundamental education, which is in demand among employers in the private sector," he said.


Russia currently has a total of 37 cosmonauts in three separate cosmonaut units managed by Rocket Space Corp. Energia of Korolev, the Institute for Medical Biological Research in Moscow and the Russian Air Force.


Energia has 15 cosmonauts, while the Institute has two. The Air Force, which also manages the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center in Star City, has 17, according to Shamsutdinov. In addition, Yuri Shargin is with the Russian Space Forces, Sergei Moshchenko works at the Khrunichev State Research and Production Space Center, and Sergei Zhukov is director general of Roskosmos' Center for Technology Transfer, according to Shamsutdinov.


While Air Force pilots still display strong interest in joining the Russian military's Cosmonaut Unit because it leads to an increase in pay, qualified civilians are not as interested, given the opportunities in the private sector, Shamsutdinov said.


Russian cosmonauts are paid a monthly wage of less than $767 (20,448 Russian rubles) a month and also receive bonuses for flights.


Since the latest campaign to enroll new members into Energia's cosmonaut unit began in 2005, the organization's managers have had little success convincing employees to apply, Shamsutdinov said.


Facing lack of interest in manned exploration from its own employees, Energia has launched a program that allows students to apply for membership in its cosmonaut corps even before graduation. A delegation led by Alexander Alexandrov, chief of the flight service at Energia, has toured several Moscow universities to try to attract students, but only students at the Moscow Engineering Physics Institute displayed interest, according to Shamsutdinov.


Some 20 students volunteered in early 2006, but only five ended up undergoing medical tests at the Institute for Medical Biological Research. None of them passed the tests, Shamsutdinov said.


Nevertheless Energia did manage to tap one young talent. Nikolai Tikhonov, a 24-year old graduate of the Moscow Aviation Institute and currently an Energia employee, passed all medical tests and was cleared by a government commission in October to begin training at the Gagarin Cosmonaut Training Center along with Elena Serova [image].


Serova, 30, is also an employee of Energia and would become the first female added to Russia's cosmonaut's corps since 2004, according to Shamsutdinov.


In an interview with the Russian edition of Newsweek in October, Pavel Vinogradov, commander of Energia's cosmonaut unit, acknowledged the drop in interest. "I cannot say there is no one at all, but it is very different from the times when we had thousands standing in line," Vinogradov told the magazine.


Vinogradov's deputy and renowned Russian cosmonaut Alexander Kaleri also acknowledged that fewer young men and women are interested in applying to become cosmonauts.


"Of course, we are no match for bankers," Kaleri, who is deputy commander of Energia's cosmonaut unit, said in an Oct. 27 interview with Space News. Kaleri also blamed the Russian media "for throwing stones at the manned space exploration, speculating that there is no longer as much need for it as there used to be."


In spite of the lessened interest, Russia currently has "more than enough" cosmonauts to meet the current requirement of three cosmonauts per year for the Russian segment of the International Space Station. Should the requirement grow to six persons for the space station a year as originally planned, the current personnel strength of the Russian cosmonaut corps still would be sufficient, Kaleri said, but with only a few in reserve.

On the positive side those who are already in the cosmonaut corps are now more likely to fly to space, given the diminishing competition, Shamsutdinov said. While some of the Soviet-era cosmonauts would retire without ever flying to space, the current members of the corps have to wait an average of 10 to 15 years until they log their first flight, according to Shamsutdinov.

And Kaleri expects the interest in the job of cosmonauts to pick up if Energia ever gets around to implementing its ambitious plans to send manned missions to other planets. "Interplanetary flights will definitely rekindle the interest," he said.

For now, however, students of Moscow's best technical schools snub manned exploration of space.

"I dream to get a good job with a high salary and I don't think there are too many students left who would be romantic enough to abandon material gains for cosmonautics," David Tarkhanyan, a second year student at the Bauman University, told Space News in an Oct. 30 phone interview.

Complete Coverage: ISS Expedition 14
IMAGES: Launch Day for Expedition 14 Crew, Anousheh Ansari
IMAGES: Anousheh Ansari Prepares for Launch
All About Astronauts


Original Story: Cosmonaut Careers: Russian Interest in Homegrown Spaceflyers Flags
Visit SPACE.com and explore our huge collection of Space Pictures, Space Videos, Space Image of the Day, Hot Topics, Top 10s, Multimedia, Trivia, Voting and Amazing Images. Follow the latest developments in the search for life in our universe in our SETI: Search for Life section. Join the community, sign up for our free daily email newsletter, listen to our Podcasts, check out our RSS feeds and other Reader Favorites today!