Full Answer
Which astronaut hit the golf ball on the moon?
Alan ShepardThe 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.
What would happen if you 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.
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!
How far did Alan Shepard hit the ball 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 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 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.
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.
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.
Did the Moon have a breeze?
Down in Mission Control, Fred Haise famously quipped: “Looked like a slice to me Al.”. The second was a breeze – not that the Moon has a breeze. However its destination remained a mystery.
How long did the golf ball stay on the moon?
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.
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.
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 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 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 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 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.
Who was the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon?
A lover of golf who spent the later years of his life near Pebble Beach, California, Shepard brought two golf balls folded in a sock and a unique 6-iron of his own engineering to space 50 years ago, hoping to become the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon. USGA senior historian Victoria Nenno recounts the idea came to Shepard as he was ...
What was the first golf shot on the moon?
The first golf shot on the moon came to life, rolling into a crater about 40 yards away. He had the hang of it now. Shepard dropped a second ball and swung again. Keeping his head down as much as he could, he made contact a second time.
How much does the moon club weigh?
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 Headquarters in Far Hills, NJ. (USGA/John Mummert)
Where is the moon club?
While Shepard died in 1998 at the age of 74, his legacy lives on in the USGA Golf Museum and Library in Liberty Corner, New Jersey, where the moon club and the sock that contained the two golf balls brought to the moon are two of the museum’s most popular items alongside Bobby Jones’ famous Calamity Jane putter.
When was the second Apollo 14 mission?
kept his plan quiet. The mission came first. Apollo 14, Shepard’s second space flight as commander, was planned for Jan. 31 to Feb. 9, 1971. Two years after humans first landed on the moon, Shepard wouldn’t be the first astronaut in space or the first person to walk on the moon on this trip, ...
Who carried the moon club?
The Moon Club, a specially crafted 6-iron clubhead carried by Alan Shepard onboard the Apollo 14 mission to the moon as seen on August 30, 2007 at the USGA Headquarters in Far Hills, NJ. (USGA/John Mummert) “Miles and miles and miles,” Shepard said as he watched it sail. “Very good, Al,” Haise said. It wasn’t really miles.
When did Apollo 14 launch?
Apollo 14 launched on Jan. 31. When there were no complications with the mission on Feb. 6, it was Shepard’s time to pay homage to the game he loved while demonstrating the physics of life in space, but a wrinkle arose in his plan due to the bulk of Shepard’s suit.
