The direct beta-decay branch linking "Hf (t&&2=5.5 h) to ' Ta has been measured to be f =(0.29+0.05+0.06)%%u. The relevance of this decay for the nucleosynthesis of" Ta is discussed.PACS number(s): 23.40.Hc, 27.70.+ q, 95.30.Cq, 97.10.Cv weaker path to be ft I =0. 023%, and presented an upper limit on the isomer-to-isomer path f &~1 .4%.We can quantitatively write down the sand r-process contributions to the observed solar-system abundance of Ta in terms of these P-branch ratios. Following Beer and Ward [8], we express the s-process contribution by *Present address: XonTech, Inc. , 6862 Hayvenhurst Ave. ,