![]() “That was the beginning of this idea in his mind,” Nenno says. On a visit to Houston’s NASA headquarters in 1970, Hope carried his ever-present driver-and used it for balance when Shepard led him to a moon gravitational display. Which makes for some Hollywood symmetry, since Shepard got the idea of swinging a club on the Moon from Crosby’s pal and longtime co-star Bob Hope. The USGA museum acquired the original following a personal request made by its most famous board member, Bing Crosby. We have a lot of artifacts that were used in the design of space hardware, and there are far fewer space objects that were flown in space, though we do have some.” The golf balls, for instance, remain on the Moon. “Much of what’s gone into space has remained in space. And it also makes clear that this was a human space flight mission, not a robotic mission.”Īlso, it’s not unusual to have a replica in the Air and Space Museum, she adds. But it helps to tell the story of the astronauts and how playful they were, and of the astronaut culture at that time,” says Muir-Harmony, author of Operation Moonglow: A Political History of Project Apollo. “One of the things I like about this object is that it’s a bit surprising. Golf Association Headquarters in New Jersey.īut the Moon Club replica at the Air and Space Museum is also notable, says the museum’s Apollo collection curator, Teasel Muir-Harmony. ![]() The golf club that Apollo astronaut Alan Shepard brought to the Moon along with a sock to store golf balls is now on view at the U.S. The original is at the USGA Golf Museum and Libary in New Jersey, where it is one of the most popular exhibits.Īlongside Bob Jones’ putter Calamity Jane II and Ben Hogan’s 1-Iron, “I would say the Moon Club is our other most famous item,” says Victoria Nenno, senior historian at the U.S. ![]() The makeshift club Shepard used in space may be the artifact that got away-the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum only has a replica, donated by Shepard in 1975. And while it never really went “miles and miles and miles,” as he boasted that day, the 200-yard shot certainly went farther than it would have on Earth, with six times the gravitational pull, which is the aspect he wanted to demonstrate. It was a brash idea and a terrible swing-the inflated pressure of the space suit made it so stiff he could only swing with one hand. And February 6 is the golden anniversary of his famous tee off on the Moon, the final flourish of the Apollo 14 mission. But he may have gotten a bigger kick with one of his last acts in space 50 years ago-whacking a golf ball on the Moon.īoth events mark milestone anniversaries this year-his 15-minute Freedom 7 suborbital launch as a Mercury astronaut occurred 60 years ago this May 5. Alan Shepard earned his place in history as the first American in space. ![]()
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