Cobra Puma Golf has sent 20 pieces of aerospace-grade aluminum with different coatings along for the latest ride to the International Space Station, to be tested in microgravity for their strength, durability and resistance to corrosion. Some question if it’s an appropriate use of space-research opportunities, but the manufacturer and other supporters say the results could have benefits beyond longer and straighter drives.
A diverse batch of research teed up for the latest launch to the International Space Station (ISS) included an experiment that might some day help golfers’ drives fly straighter or farther down the fairway, Florida Today.com reported.
As one of a group of experiments selected by the Center for the Advancement of Science in Space (CASIS), a Kennedy Space Center-based non-profit created by Space Florida and funded with $15 million annually from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Cobra Puma Golf will test materials in microgravity in the hopes of finding ways to make their golf clubs stronger, more durable and resistant to corrosion, Florida Today.com reported
“In a golf club you’ve got a very complex structure that undergoes a ton of loads,” said Mike Yagley, Director of Research and Development Testing at Cobra Puma Golf, based in Carlsbad, Calif. “It’s pretty serious science.”
The golf-related research consists of 20 pieces of aerospace-grade aluminum with different coatings, stored in a solution in two cylinders slightly larger than a golf ball’s diameter.
The experiment will only take minutes, Florida Today.com reported. Crystals that form on the coatings will be studied for structural differences from those formed under Earth’s gravity.
Yagley said results showing opportunities to improve how dissimilar materials are joined would lead to “the bigger stuff”: longer, straighter shots, a better sound striking the ball, more durable clubs. Lesser advances could help reduce coating corrosion.
“If we find that there is a benefit, then the next thing is, how do we duplicate that here on Earth?” he said.
The Cobra Puma partnership has raised some eyebrows about whether CASIS is getting the most out of the $100 billion orbiting laboratory’s National Lab, Florida Today.com reported.
“CASIS would rather go golfing than do actual ISS research,” read a headline of a recent post on the Web site “NASA Watch,” in reference to the experiment.
But CASIS and Cobra Puma Golf say the research has potential applications to many other metal structures.
“This is not research on a golf club,” said Duane Ratliff, CASIS’s chief operating officer. “This is industrial research and development on materials that is clearly targeted for the improvement of products that will go to the marketplace.”
NASA selected CASIS to run the National Lab in part because of its promise to promote research with potential commercial benefits and everday applications on the ground, helping to generate a return on taxpayers’ investment in the $100 billion orbiting laboratory, Florida Today.com noted.
“This is probably one of the best examples to date that I can think of, that really illustrates the mission of CASIS,” Ratliff added. “We’re really excited that this research may translate into a product. Maybe it will be a golf club, maybe it will be something else.”
Yagley, who studied aerospace engineering, said the golf industry is full of scientists, engineers and technicians. And in the hyper-competitive golf equipment industry, he noted, sub-milimeter changes in a club’s center of gravity can make or break a product.
“Any edge that we can get to make a better product is huge,” he said of the company’s interest in pursuing space research.
Cobra Puma’s marketing team is also eager to tout products improved by space-based research, Florida Today.com reported.
“They can’t think of anything better in order to excite someone and get them interested,” said Yagley. “They’re highly interested in leveraging the ‘made in space’ portion of this.”
CASIS will piggyback on any commercial successes stemming from such ISS research, Florida Today.com reported, using the trademarked line “Space is in it.”
Despite the high-tech engineering and science that already goes into making golf cubs, Yagley acknowledged that to the average golfer, “it might escape them a little bit.”
And CASIS’ Ratliff likely spoke for most of them when he joked, “Honestly, I’m hoping that whatever comes out of this will straighten out my slice.”
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