It's In The Hole! Er, Airlock!

This Thanksgiving will witness an event of unprecedented scientific discovery and innovation aboard the International Space Station... one that will no doubt advance the cause of all humankind for ages to come.

That's right... after several delays and more than a few raised eyebrows, there WILL be golfing outside the ISS.

Russian cosmonaut Mikhail Tyurin is set to show off his swing before kin, country, and country club November 23... after NASA officials came to the protracted conclusion that an errant golf ball will pose no threat to the station, should the flight engineer's drive go off the fairway.

"It's not like Tiger Woods taking a drive," said Kirk Shireman, NASA deputy program manager of the ISS, regarding the chances an errant three-gram golf ball -- hit by an astronaut wearing a bulky spacesuit -- would cause damage to the station.

As you may recall, the golfing excursion -- originally set for June, but delayed over mission and safety concerns -- is all for a good cause: bringing much-needed funds to the Russian space program.

And as for the timing of the... um... event? Well, it turns out November 23 marks the 35th anniversary of another stellar event in links history -- Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard's teeing off on the moon in 1971.

No one is saying just how much Canadian golf club manufacturer Element 21 paid for the stunt -- but regardless of the ultimate pricetag, Tyurin and US commander Miguel Lopez-Alegria are set to blast off aboard a Soyuz capsule sometime in mid-September, to begin a six-month stay aboard the station (they have other stuff to do, too.)

They'll join European Space Agency astronaut Thomas Reiter, who was brought up onboard the space shuttle Discovery last month.

FMI: www.nasa.gov, www.e21.com, www.federalspace.ru/index.asp?Lang=ENG