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.
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 an astronaut play golf on the Moon?
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. By this point in the moonwalk, the astronauts had already put away the still-photograph cameras.
How many shots did Apollo 14's Neil Shepard take on the Moon?
Shepard 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).
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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.
Did Alan Shepard played golf 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.
Who hit a golf ball almost a half mile 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. While the club he used on Feb.
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.
How far did Alan Shepard's golf ball go?
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.
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.
Did Buzz Aldrin 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!
Did Neil Armstrong leave a bracelet on the moon?
Roger Launius, the former NASA chief historian and a former senior curator at the National Air and Space Museum, agreed, saying, “there is no evidence to support the assertion that he left a bracelet of his daughter on the moon.” Though apparently fiction, the moment is a critical one.
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!
What is the fastest golf ball ever hit?
After accepting an opportunity to work at the best testing facility in the world at Titleist Performance Institute, Winther became the fastest golfer ever recorded with a highly impressive ball speed record exceeding 225 mph.
How many golf balls are on 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.
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 ...
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 was Apollo 14's stick?
The stick is part of the United States Golf Association Moon shot collection in its museum. On February 6, Shepard brought out the club and two balls.
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.
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:
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 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.
Why did the ball travel farther than it would have on Earth?
And due to the one-sixth gravity and lack of atmosphere, the ball traveled significantly farther than it would have on Earth. The absence of aerodynamic forces on the ball, and lack of the spin-induced “magnus effect” caused by the ball’s dimples, meant that it followed a perfectly parabolic flight.
Who was the pilot of Apollo 13?
CAPCOM (Capsule Communicator) Fred Haise, who was the lunar module pilot for Apollo 13, applied some astute commentary from his position in Mission Control: “Looked like a slice to me, Al.”. The location of the first “shanked” ball can be seen in the crater to the right.
What is the moon bunker?
The moon is effectively one giant, un-raked, rock-strewn bunker. There were no “preferred lies” as a fully-suited astronaut would struggle to tee the ball up on the surface. The pressurized suits severely restricted movement, and due to their helmet’s visors, they struggled to even see their feet.
Who hit golf balls on the moon?
The Derry Fire Department posted two pictures of Shepard on Facebook. “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!
When did the 6 iron hit the golf balls?
According to NASA, he used the head of a 6-iron attached to the handle of a sample-collection tool to hit the two golf balls on Feb. 6, 1971.
When did the first astronauts go to the moon?
New Hampshire politicians and organizations paid tribute to Shepard and the Apollo 14 mission on social media over the weekend. Shepard was the first American astronaut launched into space in 1961. Ten years later, he commanded NASA’s eighth crewed mission to the moon. Apollo 14 launched on Jan. 31, 1971.
Who was the first American to walk on the moon?
Naval Academy, plants a flag on the moon in 1971, 10 years after becoming the first American in space. Derry’s Alan Shepard, who was among the first seven NASA astronauts, was the first American in space and the fifth to walk on the moon.
When did Apollo 14 launch?
Apollo 14 launched on Jan. 31, 1971. Shepard and crewmate Edgar Mitchell landed on the lunar surface on Feb. 5, and Shepard, Mitchell and command module pilot Stuart Roosa returned to earth with a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean on Feb. 9.
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).
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.
What was the clubhead shepard on Apollo 14?
The clubhead Shepard sneaked on board Apollo 14 in a sock and the implement he attached it to - this image is reproduced courtesy of the United States Golf Association which has the item in its museum as part of the Moon shot collection.
What was the name of the solar wind experiment that Edgar Mitchell hurled?
Movie footage from the Lunar Module in 1971 was used to identify both balls. The 'Javelin' was a pole from a solar wind experiment, hurled by crewmate Edgar Mitchell. Andy Saunders is an imaging specialist and author of the upcoming book Apollo Remastered.