TORONTO – Element 21 Golf Company ("E21") (OTC BB:EGLF.OB – News) reported today that on Sunday, October 15, 2006, Russian Cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin appeared live on the popular "FOX & Friends" television show via telephone hookup between the network’s New York City studio and the International Space Station. This is expected to be the first of several interviews and articles leading up to E21’s Thanksgiving Day Eagle One Golf Mission.
During the 3-minute interview Tyurin was asked several questions about the event and his preparation for the historic golf shot. The "FOX & Friends" interview can be seen at http://69.28.71.25/e21_foxandfriends.wmv
Mikhail Tyurin never played golf before he agreed to help commemorate the 35th anniversary of astronaut Alan Shepard’s golf shots on the moon. Now, he takes practice swings on the International Space Station and remains in regular contact with his personal golf pros LPGA Hall of Fame golfer Carol Mann and PGA Director of Instruction Rick Martino.
On Thanksgiving Day, Tyurin will grab a gold-plated E21 6 iron and gold-plated E21 golf ball, place it on a specially-designed tee during a space-walk and take the shot of a lifetime.
The E21 sponsored event will commemorate Alan Shepard’s golf shots on the moon in 1971. The club, gold-plated to prevent sparking, is made from the patented E21 Alloy, an alloy composed primarily of scandium, a material used in missiles, aerospace applications and the International Space Station itself.
NASA scientists predict that the ball will burn up on re-entry to the earth’s atmosphere, though Russian scientists think that the ball will orbit the earth for up to four years. Element 21 Golf will track the ball’s position on www.e21golf.com.
As a child, Mikhail Tyurin wanted to be a hockey player, but his parents steered him toward studying engineering. After working in the private sector, he joined the Russian Cosmonaut corps in 1993. One of Tyurin’s main research interests is studying the psychological effects of space flight.
Tyurin visited the International Space Station in 2001, when he spent 125 days orbiting the earth as part of Expedition 3. This September, serving as Commander of Expedition 14, he docked at the space station for a six-month stay. He will work on the station’s assembly and will perform maintenance on the onboard systems.
Tyurin has no golf background, since the sport is rarely played in Russia, though he took two lessons with LPGA Hall of Fame golfer Carol Mann and PGA Director of Instruction Rick Martino and also practiced his swing underwater to simulate the feeling in space. He took one of Mann’s golf gloves with him into space.
"FOX & Friends" has become a critically acclaimed national news program. E. D. Hill, Steve Doocy, Brian Kilmeade, Kiran Chetry, and others anchor the early morning program where at times producers talk over the intercom, anchors cross the set for more coffee, and interns do the weather or sports. On the serious side, they update the news, discuss issues with liberal and conservative pundits, and take calls from or read viewer email. Stars from sports, music, movies and TV drop by regularly as well.
About Element 21 Golf Company:
E21 holds the exclusive right to manufacture golf products using the proprietary E21 Alloy. Through a sophisticated multi-technology production path E21 manufactures shafts, drivers, and other clubs with marked improvements in distance, accuracy and feel over competing products. In recent months a number of high profile golf professionals have switched to or began testing E21’s Eagle One shafts. The E21 Alloy is 55% lighter and offers 25% strength to weight advantage over Titanium alloys, the current standard in the golf equipment industry. The advanced dynamics of the E21 Alloy and the material economics offer a performance-enhanced alternative to manufacturing driver clubs with Titanium, the largest segment of the annual $5.5 billion dollar golf equipment marketplace.
E21 recently announced its "Golf Shot Around the World Mission" in celebration of the 35th anniversary of Alan B. Shepard Jr.’s historic Apollo 14 Mission. 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. It is only natural that this event takes place on the International Space Station, considering that scandium alloys similar to the E21 Alloy are also used on the Space Station in high strength, fatigue resistant applications.
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Contact:
Joe Wieczorek
The Media Group, Inc.
(847) 956-9090
E-mail: joe@themediagroupinc.com