(alan bartlett)

"In 1971, Alan Shepard and his fellow astronauts made their way to the Moon in the cramped Apollo 14 capsule. Their mission: Study the moon in more detail than ever before. While the world watched on TV, Shepard and Edgar Mitchell gathered rock and soil samples wearing stiff, heavy spacesuits. But Alan Shepard had a secret hidden in his sock: two tiny golf balls. Golf was Shepard's favorite sport. And since the moon has virtually no atmosphere and gravity that is only a fraction of the Earth's, a golf ball should have been able to go far. But did it? Here's the little-known but true story of an experiment that may have started as a stunt, but ended up making people think differently about the moon, ask questions, and look for answers."--Provided by publisher.

Examines the life and work of Alan Shepard, the test pilot who went on to become one of the first men to land on the moon.

Traces the life of the first American in space from his New England boyhood to his walk on the moon.

Tells the life story of American astronaut Alan Shepard, describing 1961's Project Mercury, his experiences as a communications monitor during the frightening "Apollo 13" mission, and his place in the history of space exploration.