Golf: The First Sport in Space
39 years ago Alan Shepard commanded the Apollo 14 Mission, which lasted from January 31st to February 9th, 1971. During this little earthly vacation, the gray bearded Wiley Coyote spent 33 hours on the moon. February 5th, He brought out a makeshift 6-iron and became the first person to play a sport on the moon. His sport of choice was, of course, golf!
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. In my left hand, I have a little white pellet that’s familiar to millions of Americans. I’ll drop it down. Unfortunately, the suit is so stiff, I can’t do this with two hands, but I’m going to try a little sand-trap shot here.
Shepard wasnt the last one to honor the golf gods in space. 1996, Brian Duffy and his crew used a specially designed putter and a duct tape role hole on the STS-72 mission. And 10 years later, Mikhail Tyurin launched some ultra light golf balls off of the International Space Station with a Golf plated Scandium club.
Can you name any other sports that have been played in space?
~Scratch
BONUS: Check out the video of the first ball hit in outer space!
