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European Space Agency to host flying disc competition in space
On Friday, December 15th, the European Space Agency is the host of a unique sporting event. Supported by the World Flying Disc Federation, the Swedish Frisbee Sport Federation are proud to sanction this nprecedented event.
Christer Fuglesang, ESA astronaut on the Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-116, will attempt to break the world record in the flying disc sporting discipline MTA, Maximum Time Aloft.
The competition will start at
seven minutes past seven GMT in the evening of Friday, December 15th, 2006. We believe that this is the first ever sanctioned sports event that takes place in space.
The rules of MTA are simple: A player shall attempt to throw the disc in such a fashion that the disc remains airborne for as long as possible, before catching the disc himself.
The timing of the flight of the throw shall be measured from the instant of release until the instant the disc is initially touched in the catching attempt.
In this specific competition, Christer is free to waive the recommendation in the rules that an additional disc be available in the event a disc is lost or becomes unsuitable for use.
The MTA world record stands at an impressive 16.72 seconds and was set by Don Cain (USA), on 5/26/84, in Philadelphia, PA. The sanction for the attempt to break it was formally announced by the Swedish Frisbee Sport Federation on December 10th, 2006.
Competition supervisors are Helen Page, European Space Agency, and Jonas Bengtsson, Södertörns Frisbee Klubb, Sweden.
Astronauts on the shuttle:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shutt ... index.html