It was conceived as the ultimate tribute to human ingenuity and international cooperation — an orbiting space lab that would play host to some of the most talented and highly trained individuals on the planet, doing cutting-edge science. But 20 years and more than $100-billion later the International Space Station has been reduced to recouping some of its extravagant costs with a commercial stunt that some critics argue will endanger other orbiting satellites and even the ISS itself.
This week Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin was preparing to space-walk out of the ISS, position himself on the edge of the orbiting station and tap a golf ball into the abyss. The exploit was dreamed up by the Canadian golf equipment maker Element 21, which timed it to coincide with prime-time Thanksgiving day viewing in the United States. It has reportedly cost the company $5-million.
This is not the first time the ISS has used commercial opportunities to recoup some of its costs. In 2001, Denis Tito paid $20-million to become the first space tourist to visit the ISS and in 2002 the European Space Agency employed a public relations firm to develop a ”branding and communications strategy” for the station.
But critics claim that with the golf stunt the project has sunk to a new low and deviated a long way from the professed scientific aim of focusing ”on human research and technology development to pave the way for future human exploration of our solar system”.
Element 21 denies the stunt is simply an advert. It says it pays homage to astronaut Alan Shepherd’s drive on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971. He miss-cued two shots before firing his third for ”miles and miles and miles”. — Â