AT THE STADIUM...Golfball Aerodynamics

NASA's most famous golfer is astronaut Alan Shepard, who whacked a 400-yard drive on the moon during the Apollo XIV mission in 1972. Not to knock his golfing abilities, but most of us could hit a good drive on a course with one-sixth the earth's gravity!

Earth-bound golfers need some other way to improve their game. NASA technology has recently played a part in a new golfball design. Wilson Sporting Goods Company, Humboldt, Tennessee says the new ball offers "unmatched accuracy and distance."

What's the link between NASA and the tiny golfball? The huge space shuttle external tank!

Like the center of a golfball, the external tank (ET) contains liquid -- liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen. When the ET, or a golfball, is flying through the air, the liquid inside tends to slosh around. If not controlled, the sloshing can keep the tank, or the ball, from traveling in an efficient and predictable way.

As an object moves through the air, its aerodynamic efficiency is also affected by the way the air passes across its surface. These "airloads" are important for a golfball as well as the external tank.

When Wilson wanted to design a new golfball, who did they put on the job? An engineer who used to work on external tank airloads and slosh control!