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.
Which Astronaut hit two golf balls 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.
Did Alan Shepard play golf on the Moon?
He was part of the Apollo 14 mission. Alan Shepard played golf on the Moon. Apollo 14 commander Alan Bartlett Shepard, Jr. (November 18, 1923 -- July 21, 1998) 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 famous shots.
Who is the oldest astronaut to land on the Moon?
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.
When did Alan Shepard play golf 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).
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.
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. Space enthusiasts have debated for decades just how far that second ball traveled.
Did Neil Armstrong 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'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).
Are the golf balls still on the moon?
Clearly the golf balls are still on the moon, but the clubhead is now living its life as a celebrity on Earth. Having been donated by Shepard, the moon golf club is on display in the USGA Golf Museum in Far Hills, New Jersey.
Where is the golf club that was on the moon?
the United States Golf Association MuseumYou might think both the sock and club would have ended up in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, but the club on display there is actually a replica. The real Shepard club along with that traveling sock are actually held by the United States Golf Association Museum in Far Hills, New Jersey.
What did Alan Shepard do on the moon?
At age 47, he became the fifth, the oldest, and the only one of the Mercury Seven astronauts to walk on the Moon. During the mission, he hit two golf balls on the lunar surface.
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.
Where is the golf club that was on the moon?
the United States Golf Association MuseumYou might think both the sock and club would have ended up in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, but the club on display there is actually a replica. The real Shepard club along with that traveling sock are actually held by the United States Golf Association Museum in Far Hills, New Jersey.
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.
Where is the golf club that went to the moon?
It is on display in the USGA Golf Museum in Liberty Corner, N.J. “I would say it is one of the most popular artifacts at the museum, if not the most popular,” Nenno said.
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 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?
There were also light-hearted moments. At the end of today's moonwalk, Alan Shepard became the first man to hit a golfball on the Moon, using a ball and golf club head he had smuggled on board inside his space suit. He hit two balls just before lift-off, and drove them, as he put it, "miles and miles and miles". Major success.
What was the first mission to the moon?
Apollo 14 was the first of the so-called scientific missions to the Moon. Having conquered the technical difficulties of landing a man on the Moon and returning him to Earth, Nasa scientists could now concentrate on collecting data about the origins of the Moon itself.
What happened to Apollo 14?
There was just one moment of serious concern: as Apollo 14 left its orbit around the Earth for the Moon, a docking probe failed to work , putting the mission's ability to return in jeopardy.
What rock did Apollo 15 bring back?
The next mission, Apollo 15, brought back more of the ancient white crystallised rock, including the Genesis Rock, thought to date back to the formation of the Moon thousands of millions of years ago.
When will astronauts return to the moon?
In January 2004 however, US President George Bush announced American astronauts would return to the Moon by 2020 as the launching point for journeys further into space.
Where did the Apollo 13 mission land?
The lunar module, known as Antares, landed within 87 feet (26 metres) of its target point just north of the rim of the Fra Mauro crater - the site originally planned for the aborted Apollo 13 mission.
