Out of this World Golf

Fifty Two years ago today, it happened. The longest golf shot in history.

It had a little help. Astronaut Alan Shepard had hidden a six iron and a couple golf balls on the lunar lander of Apollo 14. How he managed that I don't know; engineers were notorious for checking and rechecking weights on spaceships because it affected important things like escape velocity.

Still, he was able to get away with it. I remember watching on TV, through the grainy camera set up on the moon. This big guy in an oversized white suit digging something out of a crevice, Mission Control itself mystified, and dropping small items on the lunar surface. The Shepard produced the club, and swung at the golf balls one at a time. He had to hit them one handed because of the bulky suit. After one, during his follow through, Shepard remarked, "Miles and miles and miles!"

How many miles? Who really knows. I believe an alien race will one day find the golf balls and remark in their home language, "What the hell?"

For the curious, here it is:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_jYOubJmfM