From todays NASA multimedia page
http://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/highlights/index.html



It was a 6 iron and he used two golf balls.

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"Flying in space is risky business, but just staying on this planet is risky business too." - John Young, astronaut

Can't keep the lies straight, proves it was a hoax. 8-[

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

True, but he took three swings, which is probably where they made their mistake.

So are the golf balls stil in orbit around the moon?

Did they go in to deep space

Can they be tracked as proof?

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That's pretty funny.

I understand that there's a party of Rick Soble's 'Lunar Inhabitants' still waiting for the shots to come back down, so that they can play through!

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"I'd take the awe of understanding over the awe of ignorance any day." - Douglas Adams

Lunar escape velocity is 2.38 km/s ... anyone who can hit a golf ball hard enough to get within that ballpark would outclass Tiger Woods.

(Yes, I know that you don't need to get the EV for an orbit, but I'm too lazy to do the math)

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"We do not require reality to conform to the expectations of the ignorant"

escape velocity = sqrt(2) * orbital velocity. So about 1.68 km/s for an orbit, still a bit much even for Tiger.

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Everything I need to know I learned through Googling.

But if you add in the delta-v needed to arrive at a point where orbital velocity can be employed to generate an orbit, you're back up into the 2,000 m/s range.

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"Facts are stubborn things." --John Adams
Clavius Moon Base

For comparison, the hardest hitting pros generate ~170 mph (+/- 10%) using their driver, or about 80 meters per second. Presumably a lot less using a (one handed, I believe) 6 iron in a moon suit.

Is it true Shepard took a moonigan after his first swing? That should be allowed under lunar winter rules. Of the two balls hit he was probably allowed to call a space shiperio. Mitchell, prior to his photography chores, was attending to the flag.

But, try as he might, Shepard couldn't top Armstrong, who got an Eagle on his first try.

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He hit the second ball (a "provisional") in case he or his caddy couldn't find his first ball down the Fra Mauro fairway. However, when they went to get into their golf buggy they found they had forgotten to pack it! Darn!

Hence future moon golfers had to ensure they packed the buggy. However, all the rest enjoyed playing around in the buggy too much, and of course collecting souvenirs from around the holes known as "Hadley Rille", "Descartes" and "Taurus-Littrow" that they couldn't be bothered to actually play golf. Those guys were obviously not dedicated enough to the cause.

Next time we will have to ensure we send truly dedicated golfers to gain full benefit from the Moon Course. Don't know what the green (grey???) fees are though. Probably gone up in the last 35 years.

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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not Eureka! (I found it!) but rather, 'hmm.... that's funny...'
- Isaac Asimov

Are we alone in the Universe? Are we the only intelligent life? Who knows? But the universe is so BIG, it somehow seems such a waste of space if we are ....

*has visions of moonwalkers in plaid space suits and collapses laughing*

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I'm not completely heartless, the doctor who removed it told me he'd never be able to get it all.

Then he held Una's Coke for her and she took her own shot.

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"Man has always found it easier to sacrifice his life than learn the multiplication table." - Somerset Maugham

And what about the Plus-fours?!

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The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not Eureka! (I found it!) but rather, 'hmm.... that's funny...'
- Isaac Asimov

Are we alone in the Universe? Are we the only intelligent life? Who knows? But the universe is so BIG, it somehow seems such a waste of space if we are ....

One of the good things about lunar golf - no water hazards!

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At night the stars put on a show for free (Carole King)

But bunkers in all sizes, overlapping. No green. Just grey. And an occasional patch of orange :-)

This always makes me laugh:

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"Flying in space is risky business, but just staying on this planet is risky business too." - John Young, astronaut

Assuming it stays a standard par 70/72 course, what's the total yardage on that one? (I hear that 4236 yard par-3 first hole is a tough one)

The course fees are nothing compared to the cost of the resort and the travel.

--Nergal