As long as we’re thinking about astronauts today, Wired.com reminds us that the first extra-terrestrial round of golf was played on this date back in 1971 by Alan Shepard of Apollo 14. So-so quality YouTube video of the event below the fold:
Feb062007
I’m no conspiracy theorist: I’m convinced that we really did walk on the moon. But why did the golf ball not bounce or even float down when he first dropped it on the ground?
For the same reasons it wouldn’t have bounced or floated down here on Earth: the force of the moon’s gravity pulled it straight down, regardless of the relatively weaker lunar gravity (it probably fell even straighter than it would here, in fact, because it was unhindered by air) and it landed on soft, powdery soil, which absorbed its energy and prevented a bounce.
Hmph. Well. I knew that.