Who was the first person to play golf in space?
Feb 06, 2017 · February 6, 2017 In February 1971, Alan Shepard became the first person to play golf in space. Getty Images On February 6, 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the moon, the first and...
Did Apollo 14 astronaut play golf on the Moon?
Feb 06, 2021 · Astronaut Alan Shepard, the first American in space and commander of the Apollo 14 lunar mission, was a very keen golfer who decided to do something special on what was his only visit to the Moon. At 47 he was the oldest astronaut to land on the Moon, thus far.
Who was the first person to hit a golf ball on the Moon?
Feb 02, 2021 · 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, but he secretly planned to create a first of his own 238,900 miles from home.
How many golf balls did Alan Shepard hit on the Moon?
Feb 06, 2019 · On February 6, 1971, astronaut and golfer Alan Shepard turned the Apollo 14 landing site into a driving range. Apollo 14 commander Shepard was the first American astronaut in space, but today he's...
Who is the first astronaut to play golf on the Moon?
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
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!Feb 10, 2021
What happened to Alan Shepard Astronaut?
Shepard was diagnosed with chronic lymphocytic leukemia in 1996 and died from complications of the disease in Pebble Beach, California, on July 21, 1998. Among astronauts who had walked on the Moon, he was the second to die (Jim Irwin had been the first, in 1991).
Who is the first astronaut that hit a golf ball on the Moon he is the first and only person to take the game to the stars?
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
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!
Has anyone ever played golf on the moon?
It wasn't Neil Armstrong, it was Alan Shepard of Apollo 14 who played golf on the moon. The "club" he used was a contingency sample extension handle with a no 6 iron head attached. Each astronaut was allocated a certain amount of weight for personal items. Shepard used his to take the club head and three golf balls.
What almost happened to Alan Shepard Jr?
Shepard encountered a medical problem after his maiden trip. He was unable to fly in space due to an inner ear condition. He was able to fly again after undergoing surgery to correct the ear condition.Dec 11, 2021
How far in space did Alan Shepard go?
302 milesShepard. Sixty years ago, on May 5, 1961, a Redstone rocket hurled Alan Shepard's Mercury capsule, Freedom 7, 116 miles (187 km) high and 302 miles (486 km) downrange from Cape Canaveral, Florida.May 5, 2021
Did Alan Shepard go to moon?
Two trips, a decade apart, spanned the most exciting era in space history. Shepard shields his eyes from the bright sun at Apollo 14's Fra Mauro landing site, February 1971. Of the original seven astronauts chosen by NASA in 1959, only one, Alan Shepard, made it to the moon.
Did astronauts 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.
Who threw a javelin on the moon?
Edgar MitchellForty 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
Who was the first golfer to play on the moon?
Today in golf history: Alan Shepard plays golf on the moon. By GOLF WIRE. February 6, 2017. In February 1971, Alan Shepard became the first person to play golf in space.
Who was the first American to go to the moon?
Golfers go to great lengths to play, but no man has gone farther than Shepard, who trekked to the moon in 1971. Ten years after he became the first American in space, Shepard stashed a Wilson Staff 6-iron clubhead and two balls in a tube sock he’d hidden in his spacesuit.
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.
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.
Who was the first person to hit a golf ball on the moon?
Apollo 14 commander Shepard was the first American astronaut in space, but today he's almost as well known as the first -- and so far, only -- person to hit a golf ball on the Moon. Just before leaving the lunar surface in 1971, he attached a 6-iron golf club head to the foldable shaft of a lunar soil sampler and whacked two golf balls out into ...
Who was the first American astronaut to land in space?
This article is more than 2 years old. Shepard described his one-handed swing as "an old sand-trap shot.". On February 6, 1971, astronaut and golfer Alan Shepard turned the Apollo 14 landing site into a driving range. Apollo 14 commander Shepard was the first American astronaut in space, but today he's almost as well known as ...
How much personal gear can Apollo astronauts take?
Apollo astronauts were allowed to take 5 pounds of personal gear each into space aboard the Command Service Module, and they could take half a pound each to the lunar surface aboard the Lunar Module, but those items had to be approved by NASA, and Gilruth was skeptical about Shepard's golf idea.
How far away could you see golf balls?
It would have been a little easier in 1971, when the bright white of the golf balls would have stood out against the dark gray of the lunar surface; Columbia University astronomer Arlin Cotts told the Washington Post in 2013 that a sharp-eyed observer probably could have spotted them from 30 feet away.
How many yards is the average distance for a golfer on the moon?
That would have been an impressive shot on Earth, where the current record is 515 yards (set by Mike Austin in 1974, three years after Apollo 14), professionals still strive for 300-yard shots, and Golf Digest reported in 2017 that the median driving distance for golfers is 219.44 yards. On the Moon, it's a record that's gone unchallenged ...
When did the Shepard golf ball go to the Museum?
So he finally said okay.". Shepard donated the 6-iron to the U.S. Golf Association Museum in 1974. Those two golf balls aren't even the strangest thing we've left behind on the Moon, but they'd make a valuable prize for future lunar looters, and at the moment, they aren't legally protected.
Why did Ed Mitchell take two swings at the first ball?
In fact, he took two swings at the first ball, because the first swing connected with "more dirt than ball" on the first try, as he says in NASA's video; that first ball came to rest in nearby Javelin crater -- named for astronaut Ed Mitchell's own parting shot, a javelin-toss of the mission's solar collector wind staff.
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