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Cobra Puma is conducting an experiment aboard the International Space Station.

Cobra Puma Golf is currently conducting an experiment aboard the International Space Station that could eventually lead to the design and creation of better golf clubs.

Hows that for out of the box thinking?

The company is one of many new and non-traditional researchers that the Center for Advancement of Science and Space (CASIS) has been working with. According to CASIS President Gregory H. Johnson, the end goal is the development of products, therapies, and services onboard the International Space Station U.S. National Laboratoryto advance knowledge in applied materials science.

The partnership grew out of the 2012 PGA Show in Orlando, Florida, when a few CASIS employees were first introduced to members of Cobras research team.

Its just flat-out cool, said Mike Yagley, director of research and testing for Cobra Puma Golf, who has an aerospace background. If you can imagine that all the stuff its taken to get us into space is in a golf club, from a branding standpoint I cant see a better fit.

More than two years of planning and preparation preceded Sundays launch at 1:52 a.m. EDT from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, a video of which can be seen here. The rocket successfully arrived at the International Space Station Tuesday, September 23, according to reports from CASIS.

Cobra Pumas experiment aboard the ISS will examine a variety of coating and metals used in golf products, said Yagley, and the differences in bonding, strength, and weight of the resulting materials will be analyzed in a microgravity environment.

Zero gravity or microgravity is a big deal for our processes because metal doesnt settle in space the way it does on earth, added Yagley, who compared the mixing of metals on earth to the way chocolate syrup settles in a glass of milk. The point: a uniform mixture cant be created on earth without constant manipulation, but a microgravity environment makes it possible.

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Cobra Puma Tests Golf Clubs in Space