Alan Shepard smacked golf balls on the Moon — and now we know where they landed. When the Apollo astronaut said his second shot went “miles and miles and miles,” that was a bit of an exaggeration. In the annals of golf history, Alan Shepard’s shots from the lunar sand may be the most famous swings ever taken.
Considering this, has any golf ball been hit on the moon? “50 years ago today Derry Native and Apollo 14 commander, Alan B. Shepard, famously hit two golf balls on the surface of the Moon on February 6, 1971!
Similarly, what happened to the golf ball that Alan Shepard hit on the moon? The first ball he only skimmed, and it was easily recovered by colleague Edgar Mitchell in a nearby crater. By the second ball, Shepard had gotten the hang of it and sent it flying. That ball then remained missing for half a century. USGA MuseumShepard donated the club to the USGA Museum in New Jersey in 1974.
Furthermore, who took a golf shot on the moon? Here’s the inside story. Most golfers really want to avoid sand traps, but NASA astronaut Alan Shepard had no choice but to deal with one when wielding a six-iron head on the moon’s dusty surface 50 years ago this month.
Subsequently, did Alan Shepard sneak a golf club on the moon? The Moon Club, a specially crafted 6-iron clubhead, weighing 16.5 ounces, that was carried by Alan Shepard onboard the Apollo 14 mission to the moon, as seen at the USGA Golf Museum. The club featured a clubhead attached to a retractable teflon shaft ordinarily used on a device to collect soil samples.Alan Shepard, part of the Apollo 14 mission, stands as the only person to hit golf balls on the moon. During the mission, Shepard took a few swings and ended up leaving two golf balls to live on the moon forever. Apparently, he fitted an 6 iron head to the handle of a lunar sample collection device.
Who swung a golf club on the moon?
But one “out of this world” moment trumps them all – that time 50 years ago when astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. played golf on the moon.
Did Neil Armstrong play golf on the Moon?
Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin attempted to play golf on the Moon. False. It was, in fact, Alan Shepard who took a golf ball to the moon on Apollo 14 – he hit it with a sample collector and it went out of sight!
Has anyone played golf on the Moon?
It wasn’t Neil Armstrong, it was Alan Shepard of Apollo 14 who played golf on the moon. The “club” he used was a contingency sample extension handle with a no 6 iron head attached. Each astronaut was allocated a certain amount of weight for personal items. Shepard used his to take the club head and three golf balls.
What did Alan Shepard do on the Moon?
At age 47, he became the fifth, the oldest, and the only one of the Mercury Seven astronauts to walk on the Moon. During the mission, he hit two golf balls on the lunar surface.
Who was the last person to walk on the moon?
He is 84. Apollo 17 mission commander Eugene Cernan holds the lower corner of the U.S. flag during the mission’s first moonwalk on Dec. 12, 1972. Cernan, the last man on the moon, traced his only child’s initials in the dust before climbing the ladder of the lunar module the last time.
Can you hit a golf ball from the moon to Earth?
On Earth, a golf ball doesn’t remain in the air for long as the planet’s gravity quickly pulls it back down. On the moon, a golf ball will travel much farther because the comparatively weak surface gravity will accelerate it back to the surface more slowly.
Where did Apollo 14 land on the moon?
The Apollo 14 landing site was located at 3.65 south latitude 17.47 west longitude, about 30 miles (49.3 km) north of the Fra Mauro crater–the same site selected for the aborted Apollo 13 mission.
How many golf balls are on the Moon?
There are two golf balls on the moon. They were taken there by Alan Shepard in 1971, during the Apollo 14 mission. Shepard was the first American into space, and the fifth person to ever walk on the moon… but most impressively, he was the first (and only) person to ever play golf outside of the earth’s atmosphere!
What did Yuri Gagarin do before anyone else?
Gagarin was born in the Russian village of Klushino, and in his youth was a foundryman at a steel plant in Lyubertsy. He later joined the Soviet Air Forces as a pilot and was stationed at the Luostari Air Base, near the Norwegian border, before his selection for the Soviet space programme with five other cosmonauts.
What was the top speed of the lunar rover?
The rovers could reach a top speed of about 8 mph (about 13 kph), but the moon’s cratered surface prevented the astronauts from driving too fast. “They weren’t driving on flat land – it was more like a dirt buggy than anything else,” he explained.
What brand of golf ball is on the moon?
In February 1971, he hit two golf balls on the Moon during Apollo 14. Having modified the Wilson six-iron’s head, Shepard carried it out of his spacesuit with a pocket pocket containing a contingency sample return device attached to it.
What sports have been played on the moon?
What was the first sport played on the moon? That would be golf. In 1971, Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard swung a makeshift 6-iron on the moon’s surface — and missed the ball. His second swing, however, connected, and the golf ball went flying “miles and miles and miles,” as Shepard put it after his swing.
How far could someone hit a golf ball on the moon?
On the moon, with a gravity acceleration six times smaller, the ball would travel six times further and land some 2km away, which is roughly 1.25 miles. “This is how far a professional golf player with modern equipment could hit a drive on the moon.
What did Neil Armstrong play on the moon?
“Buzz” Aldrin, he was part of NASA’s first manned mission to the moon. The trio were launched into space on July 16, 1969. Serving as the mission’s commander, Armstrong piloted the Lunar Module to the moon’s surface on July 20, 1969, with Buzz Aldrin aboard.
How old was Alan Shepard when he went into space?
- At age 47, Shepard was the oldest astronaut in the space program at the time.
Can we walk on the moon easily?
Astronauts may be able to walk on the moon faster than previously thought, a new study reports.
What 2 sports have been played on the moon?
Golf is one of the two only sports to be played on the moon. On February 6, 1971, astronaut and golfer Alan Shepard turned the Apollo 14 landing site into a driving range, performing a one-handed swing with a six-iron, sending the ball flying through the moon’s low-gravity atmosphere.
How many times have we been to the moon?
Six missions landed humans on the Moon, beginning with Apollo 11 in July 1969, during which Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. Apollo 13 was intended to land; however, it was restricted to a flyby due to a malfunction aboard the spacecraft. All nine crewed missions returned safely to the Earth.
What did Apollo 14 discover?
Fast Facts: Apollo 14 Apollo 14’s crew carried out the longest list of experiments on the lunar surface and in lunar orbit as of that time, demonstrated that reasonably long distances can be covered on foot on the Moon and brought back almost 95 pounds (43 kilograms) of lunar samples to Earth.
Which astronaut had Meniere’s?
On May 5, 1961, Alan B. Shepard Jr. piloted the Freedom 7 craft into a suborbital flight to become the first American man in space. His promising astronautical career was soon scuttled by spells of dizziness and tinnitus later diagnosed as Ménière’s disease, until William F.
Who was the first woman to walk on the moon?
No woman has ever walked on the Moon. In 2020, NASA’s communication director reported that NASA planned to land astronauts on the Moon, including possibly a woman astronaut or astronauts, as part of the U.S. Artemis program.
What did Gene Cernan do on the moon?
‘We shall return’: Eugene Cernan was the last man to walk on the moon. There was no return. He wrote his daughter’s initials — TDC — in the dust of the moon, and then before climbing back into the lunar module, he gave a short speech, signifying the moment.
What did Cernan write on the moon?
A popular belief is that Cernan wrote his daughter’s initials on a rock on the Moon, Tracy’s Rock. The story, and Cernan’s relationship with his daughter, was later adapted into “Tracy’s Song” by pop-rock band No More Kings. The story is inaccurate, as Cernan wrote her initials in the dust, not on a rock.
Do your balls float in space?
Chiao: Correct. They’re globules that are floating and you’re floating. MH: And you can’t just grab a globule, because it won’t come with you. It’ll just break off into smaller globules.
Can you throw a rock from the moon to Earth?
Even if all other conditions were identical to those on Earth, this alone would be enough to send it farther, but the lack of atmosphere and reduced gravity would contribute even more distance. To get the maximum horizontal distance, you would have to throw the rock at a 45-degree angle.
