On February 6, 1971 astronaut Alan Shepard made a moon shot. The commander of the Apollo 14 mission stated that he took “a little white pellet that’s familiar to millions of Americans” and hit them while on the moon. These were golf balls that he hit with a 6-iron that he’d hidden during the journey into space.
In doing so, Shepard could not avoid the sand traps. The moon’s surface, after all, was dusty. Shepard used a live broadcast from the moon’s surface to showcase his hobby. He only shot two balls. He stated that the second one traveled for “miles and miles”.
According to an analysis by the U.S. Golf Association, the first ball traveled 24 yards and the second one went 40 yards. This is much less than the typical range of an average golfer on earth.
Shepard did have a few issues to contend with, however.
He did not have a real golf club, for example, but used a piece of equipment that he modified. He also was wearing a spacesuit and was forced to manage a one-armed swing.
Using only one hand when striking a golf ball lowers the strength applied as well as lowering the speed at which the ball could travel. Shepard also wasn’t able to properly turn his waist to add momentum to the shot.
In recent years, as NASA has created newer spacesuits that are more flexible, there has been conjecture that a modern-day moon shot would travel further.
The USGA was able to locate the lunar golf balls by evaluating enhanced high-resolution scans of the Apollo 14 mission’s flight footage. The organization measured the distance between the divot and the ending location of the two balls. The images were taken using NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. This was originally launched in 2009.
A second technique was also used to verify the first. The lunar module used by the astronauts when they were on the moon took photo sequences. These were shown to geologists located on Earth. The USGA used a composite of the photographs that provided a panorama of the area to show where the divot and balls were. They were all easily seen from the landing site.
Both balls were also in the takeoff footage filmed by the Apollo 14 but in order to see them a complex enhancement technique was required. Most likely NASA astronauts Shepard and Ed Mitchell were not able to see the balls from the spacecraft while on the surface or when they were leaving to go back home to Earth.
While normally astronauts often left equipment behind on the moon to make room for items that were considered precious, such as rock samples, in the case of Shepard’s modified golf club, he was able to stow it on board the lunar module before they left.
Shepard kept the club until 1974, when he donated it to the USGA Museum in Liberty Corner, New Jersey.
Bing Crosby, who was part of the USGA committee in 1972, was the one who wrote to the astronaut asking him to donate the artifact. Shepard had previously met Crosby when the two played golf together while in Pebble Beach, California.
According to USGA historian Victoria Nenno, Shepard’s modified club is one of the most popular artifacts in the museum. Not only does the Apollo program as a whole represent national pride, but the particular artifact provokes intense emotions. In addition, it looks unusual and interesting when compared to normal golf clubs.
After all, it is made up of a 6-iron head attached to a sampling tool made of aluminum and Teflon.
The idea for the golf moonshot came to Shepard in 1970. This was when Bop Hope, who was known as a golfer, came to what is now the Johnson Space Center in Houston for a TV special. Hope had his golf club with him. This gave Shepard the idea of showing the moon’s gravitational pull by playing golf there. The gravity on the moon is only one-sixth of that found on Earth.
As a long serving astronaut and the commander of Apollo 14, Shepard was able to keep his plans under wraps. Both Jack Harden, who was a professional golfer, and NASA’s technical team worked on constructing the golf club the astronaut would use. He also cleared the idea with his senior management.