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Alan Shepard - Golf Out of This World |
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Although Shepard fired off those two golf balls in moon gravity which is about one-sixth of earth's (moon fact sheet), they did not go miles and miles and miles. Shepard later appended his estimate to drive distances in the 200 to 400 yard range. Still, not bad with one hand and encumbered by a suit that prevented a good pivot on the swing. See the golf ball hit by Astronaut Alan B. Shepard, and the javelin tossed by Edgar D. Mitchell.
View of full moon from Apollo 11 (Source: NASA) Alan Shepard, the first American in space, commanded Apollo 14 at age 47 in 1971. As the oldest astronaut to walk on the moon, his back-up crew characterized him as a grey bearded Wiley Coyote™. During the Apollo 14 Moon Mission from January 31, 1971 (blast off 4:03:02 P.M. EST) to February 9, 1971, Shepard spent 33 hours on the surface of the moon which included time for a couple of golf shots that were out of this world! Here is a series of photographs with text from NASA Archives that will transport all of you who are of a certain older generation back to the hey-day of America's moon missions. For those youngsters who stumble across this collection of photographs from Apollo 14, maybe you will get a sense of the excitement of discovery that whirled around space exploration in the decades of the '60's and early '70's. (Source of Photographs: NASA Archives)
Excerpted from Apollo 14 Lunar Surface Journal - Nice Day for a Game of Golf 135:08:17 Shepard: (Facing the TV) Houston, while you're looking that up, you might recognize what I have in my hand as the handle for the contingency sample return; it just so happens to have a genuine six iron on the bottom of it. In my left hand, I have a little white pellet that's familiar to millions of Americans. I'll drop it down. Unfortunately, the suit is so stiff, I can't do this with two hands, but I'm going to try a little sand-trap shot here. (Pause) [Jones - "He topped and buried it on the first swing. I assume that the six-iron was snuck on board."] [Mitchell - "In his suit pocket."] 135:08:53 Mitchell: You got more dirt than ball that time. 135:08:58 Shepard: Got more dirt than ball. Here we go again. [Al's second swing pushes the ball about 2 or 3 feet, mostly along the line toward the TV camera, rather than along the line of the swing.] 135:09:01 Haise: That looked like a slice to me, Al. 135:09:03 Shepard: Here we go. Straight as a die; one more. (Long Pause) [Al's third swing finally connects and sends the ball off-camera to the right, apparently on a fairly low trajectory. He drops a second ball, which rolls left and toward the TV camera. Al gets himself in position and connects again. The trajectory of this shot appears to be similar to the previous one.] 135:09:20 Shepard: Miles and miles and miles. 135:09:26 Haise: Very good, Al. 135:09:27 Haise: And (to) answer Ed's question earlier there; Kilo-Kilo was used for the window shots, Ed; so, you ought to bring it back. 135:09:43 Shepard: Yeah, that's right. We got some of that to start with, didn't we? 135:09:46 Mitchell: Yeah. 135:09:49 Shepard: (Garbled). (Long Pause) [Al removes the club head. He brought it home and it is currently on display at the US Golf Association Hall of Fame in New Jersey.] 135:10:14 Mitchell: How many films (means "frames") did we take with this (close-up camera)? Eleven, Huh? 135:10:17 Shepard: Ah. Approximately. 135:10:20 Mitchell: 17. Okay. (Pause) [Al is putting the club head in his thigh pocket. Ed has removed the close-up camera from the MET and has placed it on the ground.] 135:10:30 Haise: Okay, Ed; Houston. Apollo 14 Photo Index Plaque which the Apollo 14 crew planned to leave behind
on the Moon More Apollo 14, Space and Other Related Links Excerpts from Apollo 14 Lunar Surface Journal The Apollo Gallery - NASA Archival Photographic Images NASA Photos - Image of the Day Gallery NASA Human Space Flight Gallery NASA - National Aeronautics and Space Administration The Moon Trees - Location of trees grown from seeds that went up with Apollo 14 Alan Shepard's Six Iron on Display - US Golf Association Golf House Museum President Kennedy and staff watching Alan Shepard become the first astronaut in space
Links to Other Pasture Golf Features WPA New Deal Golf Courses • That Elusive Ace: the Hole-in-One and who's been there, done that • Alan Shepard - A Golfer Out of this World • Cleeks and Clubs |
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Thirty-four
years have passed since our most famous amateur golfer astronaut, Alan
B. Shepard, Jr., described the exagerrated distance of his moon shot as
“miles and miles and miles.” Those famous words followed a one-handed
golf swing with a rigged up six iron on the moon. 
