53 Years Ago Today, Astronaut Hit Golf Balls on the Moon

Fifty-three years ago today, astronaut Alan Shepard did something no human had done before or since: he played golf on the moon.

The Apollo 14 commander had planned this moment for months. He secretly tucked a six-iron club head into his spacesuit pocket before leaving Earth, along with two golf balls.

After completing his lunar surface mission, Shepard attached the club head to a sample collection handle and dropped a golf ball onto the moon's dusty surface. His bulky spacesuit made swinging nearly impossible.

"Unfortunately, the suit is so stiff, I can't do this with two hands," he told mission control. His first swing hit more dirt than ball, prompting fellow astronaut Edgar Mitchell to joke about the poor shot.

On his third attempt, Shepard connected. The ball sailed across the airless landscape, traveling much farther than any Earth-bound drive.

"Miles and miles and miles," Shepard declared triumphantly to the amused mission control team listening back on Earth. Without atmosphere or wind resistance, and with gravity just one-sixth of Earth's, the ball likely traveled several hundred yards.

The moment captured something essential about human nature. Even 240,000 miles from home, standing on another world, we can't resist the urge to play.

Why This Inspires

Shepard's lunar golf shot reminds us that joy and curiosity drive human achievement as much as scientific ambition. He didn't need permission from NASA officials to bring that club head along, he just knew the moment deserved a touch of playfulness.

The club head made it safely back to Earth and now resides at the US Golf Association Hall of Fame in New Jersey. Visitors can see the actual piece of equipment that made history's most distant sports shot.

That February day in 1971 showed the world that exploration doesn't mean abandoning our sense of wonder and fun. Sometimes the most human thing we can do is hit a golf ball into the unknown.