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astronaut who hit a golf ball on the moon

by Reynold Hahn Published 3 years ago Updated 2 years ago
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What happened to the golf ball that Alan Shepard hit on the moon?

Shepard brought two balls with him. 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.Feb 9, 2021

Has anyone hit a golf ball on the moon?

It was Alan Shepard, commander of Apollo 14, who was the first golfer on the moon. He was a keen amateur, and the 6-Iron he used is now in the US Golf association hall of fame.

Who is the first astronaut that hit a golf ball on the moon?

astronaut Alan Shepard
How astronaut Alan Shepard brought golf to space 51 years ago with his celebrated 'Moon shot' Alan B. Shepard speaks about his Apollo 14 moon shot at a visit to Golf House in 1996. Long before Bryson DeChambeau began making a moon shot routine, astronaut Alan Shepard made a moon shot for posterity.Feb 3, 2022

Who hit golf balls on the moon?

Alan Shepard
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.Feb 15, 2021

Who threw a javelin on the moon?

Edgar Mitchell
It happened on the moon. Forty years ago this Sunday, Apollo 14 astronauts Alan Shepard and Edgar Mitchell took an entirely different kind of "giant leap for mankind," playing sports on the lunar surface. Shepard famously hit golf balls with a modified six-iron, and Mitchell threw a javelin.Feb 3, 2011

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!

Did an astronaut played golf 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.Feb 26, 2021

Why are there 3 golf balls on the moon?

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.

What Alan Shepard said about the moon?

The Moon is one big sand trap and the dust is very fine,” Shepard explained in 1974. But the third swing connected. With the Moon's one-sixth gravity, and no atmosphere, there was no drag, hook or slice. Still, it went only about 200 yards—not the miles and miles he exclaimed at the time.Feb 3, 2021

Who was the last person to walk on the moon?

Cernan
During the Apollo 17 mission, Cernan became the eleventh human to walk on the Moon. As he re-entered the Apollo Lunar Module after Harrison Schmitt on their third and final lunar excursion, he is the last human to walk on the Moon as of 2022.

Who hit a golf ball on the moon?

NASA astronaut Alan Shepard teed off from the pie in the sky on February 6, 1971.

When is the next scheduled manned trip to the moon?

NASA’s Artemis II mission is the next planned trip that will put humans near the moon–but not on it.

Who hit the golf ball on the moon?

Credit: NASA/JSC/ASU/Andy Saunders. NASA astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr hit a golf ball on the Moon in 1971… but where did it go? The answer has been revealed for Apollo 14’s 50th anniversary, thanks to 21st century tech. One small step for Man and a hole in one for Mankind?

Where is the replica of the golf ball in the crater?

The original club used for the cosmic swings can be seen at USGA’s museum. A replica is displayed at the National Air and Space Museum, Washington DC.

Who is the author of Apollo Remastered?

The result, due to be published in Saunders’ book ‘Apollo Remastered’, brings sporting and indeed spacing enthusiasts a clear picture of Shepard’s elusive golf ball. Even the divots on the lunar surface are picked out. Shepard never told anyone which brand of golf ball he used for his historic moon shots.. Credit: NASA/JSC/ASU/Andy Saunders.

Who tricked NASA?

Moon golf: How Astronaut Alan Shepard tricked NASA. The ingenious journey that Astronaut Alan Shepard had to take to sneak a golf club and golf balls into space and onto the moon. When you think of golf, legendary players like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods and Bobby Jones may come to mind. None of those legends, however, hit arguably ...

Who was the golfer that snuck golf balls into space?

The ingenious journey that Astronaut Alan Shepard had to take to sneak a golf club and golf balls into space and onto the moon. When you think of golf, legendary players like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer, Tiger Woods and Bobby Jones may come to mind.

Who hit the first golf ball on the moon?

That distinction belongs to a NASA astronaut. Apollo 14 commander Alan B. Shepard hit two golf balls on the surface of the Moon on Feb. 6, 1971. Shepard talked to the United States Golf Association (USGA) about those infamous shots. “I shanked the first one; it rolled into a crater about 40 yards way,” said Shepard.

Did the astronauts take golf clubs on Apollo 13?

Maggie Lagle, a historian for the USGA, told Fox News that NASA did not have a sense of humor after Apollo 13 and would not have let Shepard take a golf club on the mission, so Shepard snuck a club and balls into space with him.

Who was Jack Harden?

According to Lagle, the only two men who knew about the club were Shepard and Jack Harden, a golf pro at River Oaks Country Club in Houston. Harden helped Shepard modify a standard 6-iron head of a Wilson golf club.

Did Bing Crosby donate his club to the USGA?

Singer Bing Crosby helped convince Shepard to donate his club to the USGA’s museum in New Jersey. “Alan was a very avid golfer and he would actually participate in the Bing Crosby golf tournament,” said Lagle.

Who hit a golf ball on the moon?

NASA astronaut Alan Shepard teed off from the pie in the sky on February 6, 1971.

When is the next scheduled manned trip to the moon?

NASA’s Artemis II mission is the next planned trip that will put humans near the moon–but not on it.

Who is the most famous golfer to hit the moon?

NASA/JSC/ASU/Andy Saunders. In the annals of golf history, Alan Shepard' s shots from the lunar sand may be the most famous swings ever taken. And after 50 years, image analysts have finally determined how far his golf balls went.

What is the most famous golf swing ever taken?

In the annals of golf history, Alan Shepard's shots from the lunar sand may be the most famous swings ever taken. And after 50 years, image analysts have finally determined how far his golf balls went.

Who was the first man to play golf in space?

And after 50 years, image analysts have finally determined how far his golf balls went. When America's first man in space was assigned to be commander of Apollo 14 , he saw an opportunity to create the 1971 equivalent of a viral moment.

How far did the ball go on the moon?

But in the Moon's airless environment with just one-sixth the gravity of Earth, Shepard later estimated that his modest pitch shot carried the ball about 200 yards (600 feet).

Who was the first person to play golf on the moon?

Many people know that Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepherd hit a golf ball on the moon. In so doing, he became the first person to ever play golf on another world. Having hit the golf ball in the moon's low gravity environment, the ball likely remained above the surface for more than a minute. During that time, the ball might have traveled more ...

How far would a golf ball have landed from the impact point?

They estimate it might have landed between two and two and a half miles from the impact point.

How strong is the Moon's gravity?

First, the moon's gravity is only one sixth as strong as Earth's. So if you strike a golf ball up at an angle, it will describe a parabolic arc ascending to a high point, at which its vertical velocity is momentarily zero, and then descending back down to the surface.

What happens when you strike a golf ball?

So if you strike a golf ball up at an angle, it will describe a parabolic arc ascending to a high point, at which its vertical velocity is momentarily zero, and then descending back down to the surface. On Earth, a golf ball doesn't remain in the air for long as the planet's gravity quickly pulls it back down.

Why does a golf ball travel farther on the moon?

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.

Does air resistance affect the velocity of a ball?

During that time, the ball travels with a constant horizontal velocity, at least in theory. On Earth, however, air resistance impedes the ball's travel. As this resistance is proportional to the velocity squared, the faster a ball moves, the greater the impeding resistance becomes.

How fast does the Moon escape gravity?

The moon's gravity is weaker than Earth's, but still quite strong. The moon's escape velocity is about 5,310 miles per hour! In order to escape its gravity field, an object would have to at least move at this velocity. Not even the strongest human could launch a golf ball at such a speed.

How far did the first golf ball shepard hit?

Saunders concluded that the first golf ball Shepard hit traveled roughly 24 yards, while the second golf ball traveled 40 yards. Shepard's fondness for cheeky irreverence had popped up ...

How far did the Apollo 14 golf ball travel?

50 years ago, the Apollo 14 astronaut hit a golf ball that traveled roughly 40 yards. Enlarge / This image consists of six photographs taken from the Apollo 14 Lunar Module, enhanced and stitched into a single panorama to show the landing scene, along with the location from where Alan Shepard hit two golf balls.

Who hit the golf balls on the moon?

NASA / JSC / ASU / Andy Saunders. Fifty years ago this week, NASA astronaut Alan B. Shepard Jr. made space history when he took a few golf swings on the Moon during the Apollo 14 mission, successfully hitting two golf balls across the lunar surface. Space enthusiasts have debated for decades just how far that second ball traveled.

Who digitally enhanced archival images from the second ball?

It seems we now have an answer, thanks to the efforts of imaging specialist Andy Saunders, who digitally enhanced archival images from that mission and used them to estimate the final resting spots of the golf balls.

Who was the first person to go to space?

Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin famously became the first man in space on April 12, 1961, thanks to repeated postponements of NASA's Mercury mission, but Shepard wasn't far behind. He made his own flight into space one month later, on May 5.

What was the name of the movie that was filmed in 1995?

Surgery four years later corrected the problem, and Shepard was cleared for flight. He narrowly missed being assigned to the famous Apollo 13 mission —NASA's "most successful failure" and the subject of the 1995 Oscar-winning film, Apollo 13 (one of my all-time faves).

When did the Apollo 14 mission land?

Instead, Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 mission, which launched on January 31, 1971, and landed on the Moon on February 5.

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