February 6, 2023
On this date in 1971, Apollo 13 astronaut, Alan Shepard, became the first person to hit a golf ball on the Moon. He used a 6-iron head attached to a lunar sampling tool. He hit two golf balls, the second of which went “miles and miles” according to Shepard. Later imagery analysis shows that the second golf ball travelled a mere 40 yards (120 ft), even with the low gravity of the Moon.
This photo of the lunar surface was taken during the Apollo 14 mission. An image specialist, Andy Saunders, analyzed photos like this to identify where the golf balls hit by Alan Shepard landed. Image credit: NASA/JSC/ASU/Andy Saunders