Full Answer
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 astronaut Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the Moon?
A still from video footage shows NASA astronaut Alan Shepard preparing to hit a golf ball on the moon. By this point in the moonwalk, the astronauts had already put away the still-photograph cameras. (Image credit: NASA)
Did Apollo 14 astronaut hit a golf ball 50 years ago?
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 was the first person to play golf on the Moon?
50 years ago, an Apollo 14 astronaut played golf on the moon. Here's the inside story. | Space 50 years ago, an Apollo 14 astronaut played golf on the moon. Here's the inside story. A still from video footage shows NASA astronaut Alan Shepard preparing to hit a golf ball on the moon.
How far did Alan Shepard's golf 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).
Is the golf ball still 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!
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.
Can you hit a golf ball from the moon to 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.
What is 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.
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 brand 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.
How far can you throw a baseball on the moon?
More generally, Mr. Brancazio said, consider a batted ball that rises at an angle of 40 degrees, travels 385 feet -- a deep drive if not a home run -- and stays aloft for five seconds on the earth. On the moon the same ball will go 890 feet and stay in the air for 21.1 seconds.
Can you throw a rock from the moon to Earth?
You could, but it wouldn't be super easy. First of all, you have to get off of the Moon. The escape velocity of the Moon is around 2.38 km/s, which is a good estimate of what you would need to leave the Moon's sphere of influence. About 700 m/s of that is the orbital velocity.
What would happen if a golf ball hit the Earth at the speed of light?
0:0011:31Hitting Earth with a Grain of Sand Going 99.9% the Speed of LightYouTubeStart of suggested clipEnd of suggested clipSo that means the harder and harder we try to push something to get to the speed of light the moreMoreSo that means the harder and harder we try to push something to get to the speed of light the more energy we need to push it to get even closer to the speed of light.
How far would a golf ball travel on Mars?
818 yardsWith an initial golf ball velocity of 82.7 m/sec and launch angle of 12 degrees, the distance traveled by a golf ball on Mars would be 748 meters or 818 yards!
How many golf balls are in the moon?
two golf ballsThere are two golf balls on the moon, placed there by Alan Shepard, a NASA astronaut in the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.
Who was the only person to hit a golf ball on the moon?
Decades after the historic golf excursion, Shepard still had pride in the accomplishment. "So far I'm the only person to have hit a golf ball on the moon. Probably will be for some time," he told NASA in the February 1998 oral history, a few months before his death at age 74.
Who was the famous golfer who was convinced to play with the moon club?
Shepard was convinced to part with his precious moon club after the famed singer and entertainer Bing Crosby, a member of the USGA committee in 1972, wrote Shepard saying the museum would be "an ideal repository for the celebrated implement," Nenno said. Shepard and Crosby were already acquainted from playing together at Pebble Beach, California, a well-known golf haven for enthusiasts.
What was the golf club on the Apollo moon?
Why "unusual and interesting"? Technically speaking, the golf club was a Wilson Staff Dyna-Power 6-iron head attached to a sampling tool — a five-piece tool loosely held together by string when not fully assembled — that was made of aluminum and Teflon. Golf clubs usually don't come apart as Shepard's moon club did, but Shepard needed the modification to fold it into the cramped quarters of the Apollo lunar lander.
Why did Hope golf on the moon?
Hope took his golf club everywhere, according to the USGA, and Shepard was inspired to do a quick golf session on the moon to demonstrate the moon's gravitational pull, which is one-sixth that of Earth, according to NASA. Shepard, the commander of Apollo 14 and a long-time NASA astronaut, used his connections to discreetly ask for help keeping ...
Where did the golf club that was tucked away go?
The rules surrounding giving space artifacts to astronauts were different in the 1970s, so Shepard kept the club before donating it to the USGA Museum in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, roughly an hour west of New York City, in 1974.
How far can a male golfer drive?
By comparison, a 2019 report using golf tournaments' gender categories shows that an average amateur male golfer on Earth can drive the ball 216 yards (198 m), and an average female golfer 148 yards (135 m), although those distances have increased significantly since Shepard's flight.
How far can a golfer drive the ball?
By comparison, a 2019 report using golf tournaments' gender categories shows that an average amateur male golfer on Earth can drive the ball 216 yards (198 m), and an average female golfer 148 yards (135 m), although those distances have increased significantly since Shepard's flight.
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.
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:
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.
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 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.
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.
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.
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.
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 ...
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.
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.