Thursday, June 01, 2006

From The Those Pesky Russians And Those Whacky Canadians Department:

Orlando Sentinel: Tee time for galaxy's longest golf shot delayed

Russian cosmonaut Pavel Vinogradov won't be hitting history's longest golf shot outside the international space station this week, NASA officials said Tuesday. The event will be postponed from a Thursday spacewalk, tentatively to November.

The publicity stunt is part of a financial deal between Russia's Federal Space Agency and a Canadian golf-equipment company. Video footage of a cosmonaut's swing at a gold-plated golf ball will be used in a commercial to promote the company's products and commemorate the 35th anniversary of Alan Shepard's golf shot on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission.

With golf no longer on the agenda, Vinogradov and American crewmate Jeff Williams will exit the station at about 6:40 p.m. Thursday for their planned 5 1/2-hour spacewalk. The primary task is to install a new valve for the oxygen-generation system. The pair also will retrieve experiments and attach a new television camera.

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