Ava Romero
On February 6, 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first person to play golf on the moon. During the Apollo 14 mission, Shepard hit two golf balls, using a modified golf club that he had snuck on board. The first shot was shanked into a nearby crater, while Shepard estimated the second travelled miles and miles and miles. However, recent research suggests it went closer to 120 feet. The club that Shepard used is now on display in the USGA Golf Museum.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name | Alan Shepard |
| Date | February 6, 1971 |
| Mission | Apollo 14 |
| Number of golf balls hit | 2 |
| Distance of first shot | Shanked into a crater |
| Distance of second shot | 40 yards (according to Andy Saunders); 120 feet (according to recent research); 600 feet (Shepard's estimate) |
| Golf club used | Wilson Staff Dyna-Power 6-iron head attached to a collapsible tool designed to scoop lunar rock samples |
| Golf balls | Brand unknown |
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What You'll Learn
Alan Shepard's golf shot
On February 6, 1971, Alan Shepard became the first person to play golf on the moon. As part of the Apollo 14 mission, Shepard took two shots, the first of which he shanked into a crater. He estimated that his second travelled about 600 feet, although modern research suggests it was closer to 40 or 120 yards.
Shepard was a Second World War navy veteran and the first American astronaut in space in 1961. He had become a national celebrity, and his lunar golfing captured the imagination of the public. An avid golfer, he had sought out a club pro in Texas to build him a modified club, which he took to the moon in his space suit, along with a few golf balls hidden in a sock.
The Apollo 14 mission was the eighth crewed Apollo mission and only the third to land on the moon. The images of Shepard playing golf were beamed back to TV sets on Earth, leaving viewers stunned.
The spacesuit Shepard wore was non-flexible, and he could only swing with one hand. This was a significant factor in his golfing ability, as it affected his stance, swing, and power. Despite this, he will always be known as the first person to golf on the moon, and his achievement has captured the imagination of people for half a century.
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Apollo 14 mission
Apollo 14, the eighth crewed mission in the United States Apollo program, was the third mission to land on the Moon. The mission was crewed by Commander Alan Shepard, Command Module Pilot Stuart Roosa, and Lunar Module Pilot Edgar Mitchell. The mission launched on January 31, 1971, and lasted nine days, concluding on February 9, 1971.
Apollo 14 was the last of the "H missions", which were landings at specific sites of scientific interest on the Moon for two-day stays with two lunar extravehicular activities (EVAs or moonwalks). It was originally scheduled for 1970 but was postponed due to the investigation following Apollo 13's failure to reach the Moon's surface and the need for modifications to the spacecraft.
During the mission, Shepard and Mitchell landed in the Fra Mauro formation and conducted two moonwalks, collecting 94.35 pounds (42.80 kg) of Moon rocks and deploying several scientific experiments. Shepard, an avid golfer, also famously played golf on the Moon, using a modified club and balls hidden in a sock. His first shot went into a crater, and his second travelled around 40 to 120 yards, according to different estimates.
While Shepard and Mitchell were on the surface, Roosa remained in lunar orbit, performing scientific experiments and photographing the Moon. He took several hundred seeds on the mission, which were germinated on return and distributed as "Moon trees". The crew experienced malfunctions en route to the lunar landing but successfully overcame them, ensuring the mission's success and the continuation of the Apollo program.
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The golf club
On February 6, 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard became the first person to play golf on the moon. He used a modified golf club, a Wilson Staff Dyna-Power 6-iron head, attached to a collapsible tool designed to scoop up lunar rock samples. The club was created by Jack Harden, a club pro at River Oaks Country Club in Texas, and was kept hidden in Shepard's space suit before the launch.
Shepard hit two golf balls, with the first shot going into a nearby crater. He estimated that his second shot travelled about 600 feet, although recent research, including high-resolution scans and image enhancement techniques, suggests it was closer to 120 feet or 40 yards. The exact distance remains a mystery, with historians and physics experts analysing the shots over the years.
The club that Shepard used now resides in the USGA Golf Museum, along with the golf balls, which were identified in photographs taken by the Apollo 14 crew. These images were stitched together to create a panorama, showing the landing site and the location from which Shepard took his swings.
Shepard's golf game on the moon was a unique and memorable moment in the history of space exploration, adding a touch of leisure to the meticulous schedules of the Apollo missions.
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The golf balls
On February 6, 1971, Alan Shepard became the first person to play golf on the moon. He hit two golf balls, using a makeshift club with a Wilson Staff Dyna-Power 6-iron head, attached to a collapsible tool designed to scoop up lunar rock samples.
Shepard had sought out a golf pro at a Texas country club to build him the modified club, which he smuggled on board in his space suit, along with a few golf balls hidden in a sock. The astronaut's first shot went awry, landing in a nearby crater. His second shot was more successful, though the exact distance it travelled is unknown. Shepard himself exclaimed that it went "miles and miles and miles..." but experts believe it may have travelled closer to 120 feet.
The mystery of the exact distance was only recently solved, thanks to high-resolution scans of the original flight film, which had been kept in a frozen archive vault in Houston, and modern image enhancement techniques. By cross-referencing identifiable features on the moon's surface, such as boulders, craters, and astronaut tracks, the location of both balls was identified, and thus the distance of the second shot calculated.
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Footage of the event
On February 6, 1971, astronaut Alan Shepard played golf on the moon. This event was part of the Apollo 14 mission and was the eighth crewed Apollo mission and only the third to land on the lunar surface.
Shepard's moon golf game was beamed back to TV sets on Earth, stunning viewers in Houston and beyond. The footage was grainy, but it captured the attention of those who watched.
The footage of Shepard's golf game on the moon was made possible by a 16mm movie camera that recorded the event from the window of the Apollo 14 spacecraft as it lifted off from the lunar surface. This camera captured the two golf balls that Shepard hit with his makeshift club, a Wilson Staff Dyna-Power 6-iron head attached to a collapsible tool designed to scoop lunar rock samples.
The footage of Shepard's golf game has been enhanced in recent years using modern digital processing techniques. Imaging specialist Andy Saunders spent over 10,000 hours restoring flight film from the Apollo missions, including the footage of Shepard's golf game. Saunders' work has shed new light on the distance of Shepard's second shot, which was previously unknown for almost 50 years.
In addition to the 16mm film footage, sequences of photographs were also taken from the window of the Lunar Module as it prepared to leave the moon. These photographs were stitched together into a single panorama, capturing the scene from the window, including the location from which Shepard swung his club and the two golf balls he hit.
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Frequently asked questions
Alan Shepard played golf on the moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.
Shepard's first shot went into a nearby crater. He estimated that his second shot went "miles and miles and miles", but modern analysis suggests it travelled closer to 40 or 120 yards.
Shepard used a Wilson Staff Dyna-Power 6-iron head attached to a collapsible tool designed to scoop lunar rock samples. He smuggled the club and some golf balls onto the mission without NASA's knowledge. The brand of balls remains a mystery.
