Who first played golf 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.
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.
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!
What man hit a golf ball on the moon?
astronaut Alan ShepardHere'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.
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 drove a golf ball on the moon?
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.
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.
Is the American flag still on the moon?
Images taken by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) have shown that the American flags left on the Moon by Apollo astronauts are still standing– except for the Apollo 11 mission, which Buzz Aldrin reported as being knocked over by engine exhaust as Apollo 11 lifted off.
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 golfer that used golf to ride the moon?
The idea to use golf as the visual hit Shepard when famed comedian Bob Hope visited NASA prior to the mission. During the tour led by Shepard, Hope carried around an old driver and eventually used it for balance when he entered the moonwalker, simulating conditions on the moon.
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 ...
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)
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.
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.
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.
Is the moon's atmosphere groundbreaking?
The moment wasn’t scientifically groundbreaking. The atmosphere on the moon’s surface had been tested and witnessed in previous missions. It wasn’t a complicated experiment or procedure like many of NASA’s missions. But it didn’t need to be.
