World Flying Disc Federation
4730 Table Mesa Drive, Suite J-200
Boulder, CO 80305
www.wfdf.org

For Immediate Release

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Galactic MTA Record Set on Space Shuttle Discovery

-Credit- NASA TV Image-

December 15, 2006 was a historic day for space exploration and for disc players everywhere. One of our own, Christer Fuglesang (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christer_Fuglesang) of Sweden is currently aboard the Space Shuttle Discovery.

Christer was live broadcasted on the national Swedish channel TV4, and as part of that program he also attempted two MTA "throws" in the zero gravity of the shuttle. The first try got away from him, but the second attempt was timed at 20.52 seconds by Flight Engineer Thomas Reiter (ESA) of Germany.

Mark Williams has posted some clips from NASA TV coverage of Christer's historic "throw" in space:

What a thrill that was to see our guy up there. He's a true hero for Earthlings everywhere. It was also a record for the number of people to simultaneously witness an MTA by a LOT!

Since we were able to witness the performance live, we have waived the normal submission requirements and have created a new "Galactic" record category to immortalize Christer's historic achievement. Don Cain, holder of the MTA record for Earth-bound players has also hailed Christer's performance, but is itching for a head-to-head match up with Christer in space. We're looking into making those arrangements with NASA. Of course, as we begin to reach other bodies in space, we will need separate categories for each of them since the conditions vary so widely. We're looking forward to those Martian TRC records starting to come in. The record will read:

Galactic MTA (Open):
Christer Fuglesang SWE (ESA Astronaut)
20.52 s
12/15/06
Space Shuttle Discovery Mission STS-116

What an ambassador for the sport! Well done, Christer!

WFDF Chief Records Administrator
Dan "Stork" Roddick

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