Fifty-five years ago today, history was made when Apollo 14 astronaut Alan Shepard took a memorable swing on the lunar surface, adding a delightful twist to his mission. Before departing from the moon, Shepard fulfilled a long-held dream by teeing up a golf shot. This adventurous NASA commander cleverly tucked a six-iron club head into his space suit pocket, which he attached to the handle of a lunar sample scoop for his lunar golfing endeavor. Though his first two swings went awry, with a few amusing slices, he ultimately connected beautifully with the ball, sending it soaring “miles and miles and miles,” as he excitedly reported to mission control, who listened with a mix of amusement and awe.
After this fun lunar moment, Shepard returned the golf club head to Earth, where it now enjoys a place of honor at the US Golf Association Hall of Fame in New Jersey. Because no still photos captured this iconic event, staged images were created for his book, Moon Shot, using composite photos of the moon’s surface.
In a memorable exchange during the broadcast, Shepard shared his playful spirit with mission control, saying, “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.” As he prepared for his shot, he humorously noted the stiffness of his suit, adding to the light-heartedness of the moment.
On this date, we also celebrate other remarkable achievements in space exploration. Eight years ago, the inaugural Falcon Heavy rocket launched from Cape Canaveral, carrying a Tesla Roadster with a crash test dummy at the wheel. This powerful rocket, built by SpaceX, generated an astonishing 5 million pounds of thrust from its 27 engines across two Falcon 9 boosters. While there were some minor post-launch challenges, the mission was largely a success, marking Falcon Heavy as the largest payload rocket available, offering an economical option for space launches.
Elon Musk initially claimed that the Roadster had overshot its intended orbit and would reach the asteroid belt; however, further observations revealed that it would only slightly exceed Mars’ orbit at its farthest point. Since then, the Falcon Heavy has been primarily utilized for Air Force and Space Force missions, with commercial flights taking place in 2023. Notably, it carried NASA’s Psyche mission to study a unique metallic asteroid and is set to launch the Europa Clipper in 2024, aimed at exploring Jupiter’s moons and supporting critical systems for the Lunar Gateway.
These moments in space history remind us of the incredible achievements of humanity, as we continue to explore the cosmos with curiosity and innovation!
