Which Apollo astronaut hit golf balls on the Moon?

Alan Shepard was the Apollo astronaut who hit golf balls on the Moon.

Shepard performed the stunt during Apollo 14, NASA’s third successful crewed lunar landing, in February 1971. He had secretly arranged to take a modified Wilson six-iron club head to the lunar surface. Because the club head was attached to the handle of a lunar sample scoop and his spacesuit restricted movement, he had to swing one-handed.

Shepard hit two golf balls near the Apollo 14 lunar module Antares. He famously joked that the second traveled “miles and miles and miles,” although later image analysis estimated the shots at roughly 24 yards and 40 yards. The low lunar gravity did not automatically send the balls enormous distances: the Moon’s lack of atmosphere reduced drag, but Shepard’s awkward stance and limited swing mattered greatly.

The golf shots were part of a mission filled with serious scientific work. Shepard and Edgar Mitchell collected samples and deployed experiments in the Fra Mauro highlands, while Stuart Roosa remained in lunar orbit in the command module. David Scott later conducted a famous hammer-and-feather demonstration on Apollo 15, but he did not hit golf balls.