Being in space, Daniel Tani had a very unique opportunity. He chose to take up photographing during his 4-month stay in the International Space Station. Part of his work detailed the world’s greatest golf courses. Because of his great photos, we are now able to see pictures from space of what these courses actually look like.
There were many challenges involved in this project, but Daniel considered them well worth the reward. Some of the issues that he confronted were more obvious than others (i.e. no gravity, cloud interference), but some less so. For example, the living space he was in traveled at very high speeds around the Earth and the space station itself exceeds the length of a football field. By the time Daniel was able to get set up, he only had about 10 seconds to take the actual photograph.
The great thing about this project is that Daniel, despite his obstacles, was able to get such great pictures of so many areas of our world. He got pictures of New Zealand, South Africa, Ireland and much more. In Daniel’s earlier years he was very interested in golf and this spurred on his new project while in space.
While Daniel doesn’t golf nearly as much as he used to since he has a family and children of his own, he definitely was able to capture some magnificent views of golf courses during this special time in his life. He also had the benefit of creating special memories related to golf while on his space voyage. On his trips he was able to take a golf ball and a couple of flags. These helped connect him back to his roots and to keep him from getting too homesick while he was away.
While on board the International Space Station, Daniel was monitored along with his fellow astronauts by doctors for his physical and mental health status. The doctor was also able to arrange special satellite calls with professional golfers per Daniel’s request.
Daniel now stays in touch with his beloved golf by continuing to take these marvelous photographs. As he is considering when to take the pictures, he is able to study the scenery below and use the rivers, mountains, lakes and other natural phenomena to signal when a course is nearby.
During his space travels, Daniel has been able to take plenty of pictures and some of them are merely by chance. At times, he couldn’t really tell what was or wasn’t an actual golf course. Through observation, and contact with his wife for coordinates, he was able to locate plenty of them.
Upon Daniel’s return, he underwent 45 days of physical therapy to help him regain his strength. It is standard for all returning astronauts as it is common to have muscle weakness after being weightless for over 100 days straight. After his recovery period, however, he was able to once again enjoy the great sport of golf.
