How far did the golf ball really travel on the Moon?
50 years ago astronaut Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the moon which he claimed travelled "miles and miles", but now we know just how far it really went. Sign up for our daily newsletter!
Did Alan Shepard really hit a golf ball on the Moon?
50 years ago astronaut Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the moon which he claimed travelled "miles and miles", but now we know just how far it really went. Sign up for our daily newsletter! An imaging specialist has been able to calculate how far astronaut Alan Shepard really hit a golf ball on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission 50 years ago.
Could Bryson DeChambeau hit a golf ball on the Moon?
Saunders, whose forthcoming book is entitled Apollo Remastered, estimates that a professional US Open golfer like Bryson DeChambeau could, in theory, hit a ball as far as 3.41 miles on the Moon, with a hang time of 1 minute 22 seconds—much farther (and longer) than Shepard's feat. As he told the BBC:
How can you find the second ball that hit the Moon?
Saunders' remastering of archival photos enabled him to locate the second ball that traveled farther, as well as one of the divots in the lunar soil. "You can access Apollo imagery to very high quality online," Apollo historian and video editor W. David Woods told Ars.
Why does a golf ball travel farther on the moon?
How far would a golf ball have landed from the impact point?
How far did Alan Shepherd hit the golf ball?
What happens when you strike a golf ball?
How fast does the Moon escape gravity?
Does air resistance affect the velocity of a ball?
Can you hit a golf ball on the moon?
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Could you hit a golf ball on the moon?
No, you cannot hit a golf ball into orbit on the moon.
Is it possible to hit a golf ball from the moon to the Earth?
There is no air resistance on the moon to slow the ball's travel. The faster one hits a golf ball, the farther it moves as no fluid resists it. As for making a ball leaving the moon altogether, well, a human truly couldn't. The moon's gravity is weaker than Earth's, but still quite strong.
How many golf balls did Alan Shepard hit on the moon?
two shotsShepard took a few moments during the Apollo 14 landing to show off his hobby during a live broadcast from the lunar surface on Feb. 6, 1971. He took two shots, with the second ball going "miles and mile," he said on-camera. He was exaggerating, according to new analysis from the United States Golf Association (USGA).
How far did Alan Shepard's golf shot 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).
How far would a 300 yard drive go on the moon?
McIlroy regularly drives golf balls over 300 yards (274 meters) at speeds of over 180mph and at a pitch angle of 15 degrees. But just how far would his shots travel if one of the Majors took place on the moon? Dr Sarzi said: “Without air friction McIlroy's typical drive would go further out to some 330 meters.
What's the farthest golf ball ever hit?
515 yardsThe world record recognized by Guinness World Records as the longest drive in a competition is 515 yards (471 m) by 64-year-old Mike Austin in 1974 at the US Senior National Open Qualifier with a 43.5" steel shafted persimmon wood driver.
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 brand of golf balls are on the moon?
Our most sincere thanks for the Daisy golf balls by Victor ….. They are out of this world!” The display also features a Victor Daisy golf ball from around 1971 and a video showing the famous 6-iron shot. Shepard took two golf balls on his moon walk and hit them both. The balls bear the Daisy logo.
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.
Why was Alan Shepard removed from Apollo 13?
Shepard, Mitchell and Roosa were originally scheduled to fly Apollo 13 and were bumped to give Shepard more training time in the simulators before his return to space flight following treatment for Ménière's disease.
Do harder golf balls go further?
The harder the ball, the further it tends to go with less spin. Harder golf balls tend to be much cheaper than softer golf balls. If you lose balls regularly then harder golf balls could be ideal for you. Soft balls stick to the grooves of your irons and wedges and spin much more.
Has anyone golfed on the moon?
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.
How far can a golf ball travel?
320 yardsSo, basically, the maximum distance a golf ball can go is 320 yards. There are also standards about initial velocity at impact. A ball is kept in an incubator at 75 degrees Fahrenheit for 3 hours.
What's the escape velocity of Earth?
about 11.2 kmAt Earth's surface, if atmospheric resistance could be disregarded, escape velocity would be about 11.2 km (6.96 miles) per second.
An astronaut hits a golf ball on the Moon. Which of the ... - Quora
Answer (1 of 2): Assuming that the variation in height (distance from the Moon’s core) is treated as negligible, (b) and (c). (a) will vary slightly as the root of the sum of the squares of the horizontal and vertical components — if the ball is traveling for a small enough time, that difference ...
A golf ball being hit on the moon vs Earth | Physics Forums
Homework Statement: A golf ball is hit on the moon which has a free-fall acceleration 1/6 of its value on earth. The ball is hit at a speed of 28m/s at an angle of 35 degrees. How far did the golf ball travel? Ignoring air resistance, how far would it travel on earth?
How far can a golfer hit the moon?
Saunders, whose forthcoming book is entitled Apollo Remastered, estimates that a professional US Open golfer like Bryson DeChambeau could, in theory, hit a ball as far as 3.41 miles on the Moon, with a hang time of 1 minute 22 seconds—much farther (and longer) than Shepard's feat. As he told the BBC:
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.
What did the clubhead shepherd bring on board Apollo 14?
The clubhead Shepard brought on board Apollo 14 in a sock and the implement he attached it to. The stick is part of the United States Golf Association Moon shot collection in its museum. USGA Digital Archive. Previous Slide Next Slide. On February 6, Shepard brought out the club and two balls.
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.
Where did Bob Hope golf?
The idea for Shepard's golfing stunt came out of a 1970 visit by comedian Bob Hope to NASA headquarters in Houston. An avid golfer, Hope cracked a joke about hitting a golf ball on the Moon, and Shepard thought it would be an excellent means of conveying to people watching back on Earth the difference in the strength of gravity. So he paid a pro named Jack Harden at the River Oaks Country Club in Houston to adapt a Wilson Staff 6-iron head so that it could be attached to a collapsible aluminum and Teflon sample collector. Once NASA's Technical Services division added some finishing touches, Shepard practiced his golf swing at a course in Houston while wearing his 200-plus-pound spacesuit to prepare.
Who was the commander of Apollo 14?
Grainy footage of Apollo 14 commander Alan B. Shepard Jr. playing golf on the Moon on February 6, 1971.
How far can a golfer hit a ball on the moon?
Let's look at this in a little detail. On Earth, a very good golfer can hit a ball about 300 yards, with very few notable exceptions getting a little farther. But the Moon's a little different. With no atmosphere (and no air resistance), and only one-sixth of the Earth's gravity, we can figure out -- with a little help from physics -- how far it ...
How fast can a ball go on the moon?
You can make the ball go twice that speed! How? Just make sure you've got a club head that's much more massive than the ball, and that you've got an elastic collision, and you're in business! So let's say you can give the ball an initial speed of 180 miles per hour (80 m/s) on the Moon.
How fast can a golf club go?
Well, you can measure the speed of a golf club without too much problem. Even a typical amateur golfer can swing a club at 90 miles per hour (40 m/s). Does that mean the ball goes off at that speed?
Who was the first person to golf on another planet?
Along with Stuart Roosa (left) and Edgar Mitchel (right), commander Alan Shepard (center) became the first man to golf on another planet.
Is it possible to golf on the moon?
In fact, it's totally conceivable that Alan Shepard's one-armed, 6-iron shot on the Moon holds the record for the farthest golf shot in the history of humanity! So surprisingly, the answer is yes, miles and miles and miles is totally realistic for a golf shot on the Moon!
How fast is a golf ball hit on the moon?
A golf ball is hit on the moon which has a free-fall acceleration 1/6 of its value on earth. The ball is hit at a speed of 28m/s at an angle of 35 degrees. How far did the golf ball travel? Ignoring air resistance, how far would it travel on earth?
When to use range equation?
The use of the range equation is appropriate in this case. You can use it whenever the projectile lands at the same height from which it was launched.
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.
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 far did Alan Shepherd hit the golf ball?
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 than two miles. Nobody actually calculated the precise distance the ball traveled. Physicists have estimated the ball's traveling distance based on their knowledge of the environment and by making assumptions about the force Shepherd applied to the ball on impact and the angle with which he struck it. They estimate it might have landed between two and two and a half miles from the impact point. Text book physics problems provide one with all the information required to solve the problems. In real life situations, much of the information is unknown and therefore answers are predicated on mis-informed presumptions. We cannot truly know precisely how far Shepherd's ball traveled. However, he undoubtedly holds the record for the longest drive in history, far surpassing Mike Austin's highly impressive world record 515 yard drive.*
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.
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.
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.
Can you hit a golf ball on the moon?
There is no air resistance on the moon to slow the ball's travel. The faster one hits a golf ball, the farther it moves as no fluid resists it. As for making a ball leaving the moon altogether, well, a human truly couldn't. The moon's gravity is weaker than Earth's, but still quite strong.
