Astronauts Make A Return Trip To Golf House


10/25/06

By Shannon Doody, USGA

Far Hills, N.J. - The USGA hosted two longtime space friends again on Monday and Tuesday.

Brian Duffy, retired NASA astronaut, shows off the "Shutle Putter" that was used by Duffy and his crew in space during the 1996 Endeavour voyage (NASA mission STS-72). (John Mummert/USGA)

, retired NASA astronaut with four space shuttle missions to his credit, and , flight simulation instructor for United Space Alliance, spoke to about 200 schoolchildren from 's , the in and the in . The visit marked the third time Duffy and Terry have come to the USGA to speak with local schoolchildren.

Their first visit was in May 2002 when they donated the "Shuttle Putter" to the . The "Shuttle Putter" was a specially designed golf putter created by Terry and used by Duffy and his crew in space during the 1996 Endeavour voyage on which Duffy served as commander (NASA mission -72). During their down time between mission tasks, Duffy and his crew played an improvised game of "space golf" using the putter, a golf ball and a roll of duct tape that served as the floating hole.

Duffy and Terry gave a 45-minute presentation to the children about the space program and what it was like to be an astronaut. They showed a high-intensity video featuring clips from recent shuttle missions, brought items relevant to the space program, shared stories of their experiences in space and answered several questions from the eager crowd. The children were each given a packet of freeze-dried, ready-to-eat ice cream to take home with them so they could get an idea of the type of food that astronauts subside on in space.

is the Film and Video Archivist for the USGA. E-mail him with questions or comments at sdoody@usga.org.