by JamesHunt
It has been over 40 eld since humanity last situated foot on the surface of the Moon , but that has n’t stopped it from becoming a pop destination for aspire blank travelers . Should the chance to visit ever arise , you in all probability recall you know what to expect : debris , Crater , and a bunch of abandoned spacecraft . But there might be a few surprises in memory . Here are just a few of the eldritch thing you might bump on the surface of the Moon .
1. TWO GOLF BALLS
Alan Shepard holds the preeminence of being the 5th and oldest person to walk on the Moon , but he ’s also the first somebody to play a beat of golf . Using a Wilson - branded six - atomic number 26 club head attach to a lunar sample scoop handle , Shepard made two drives : the first swing was “ more dirt than ball , ” but the second musket ball went — as he described it—“miles and miles and miles . " Shepard brought the club back to Earth ( it ’s in the United States Golf Association Museum in New Jersey ) , but did n’t have enough fourth dimension to retrieve the ball .
2. THE FALLEN ASTRONAUT
There is n’t a immense amount of art on the lunar month , but there ’s probably more than you expect . One famous example isFallen Astronaut , a 3.3 - inch aluminum model placed on the surface by the bunch of the Apollo 15 . Intended — according to the accompany plaque — to commemorate those who have died while quest for space geographic expedition , the carving was created by Belgian creative person Paul Van Hoeydonck , but despite the accolade of have the first sculpture on the moon , Van Hoeydonck disputes its exercise , express that he intended it to be place upright and that it represented all manhood . alas , it ’s unlikely he ’ll get a chance to correct the orientation personally .
3. A PIECE OF LAVA FROM DEVIL’S LAKE IN OREGON
In a move that could in earnest put off lunar geologist of the distant future , Apollo 15 cosmonaut James Irwin left a small spell of solidify lava on the moon . The chunk of rock was assume from Devil ’s Lake near Bend , Oregon , where NASA sent its astronaut to rehearse taking sway sample . Each cosmonaut was hosted by locals , and Irwin was paired with construction inspector Floyd Watson . Five years later , upon learning that Irwin was going to the moonlight , Watson inquire Irwin if he ’d take the rock up there with him . Watson did — and , as cogent evidence , he sent Irwin a photograph of the shard with a handwritten note stating " Oregon Lava on the Moon ! "
4. A CHAPTER OF THE ALUMNI ASSOCIATION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN
By this tip , it might seem like Apollo 15 did nothing but muck around when they went to the Sun Myung Moon , but in increase to impart behind midget sculptures and rock , the three astronaut ( David Scott , James Irwin , and Alfred Worden in the Command Module ) found the first outer space - based chapter of their university ’s alumni connexion .
All three had attended the University of Michigan , so they left behind a small plaque containing thewords , “ This is to certify that The University of Michigan Club of The Moon is a punctually constituted unit of the Alumni Association and entitled to all the right field and privileges under the Association ’s Constitution . ”
5. A BLANK PHOTOGRAPH
Lots of astronaut took photograph on the Moon , but Charles Duke took a phototothe Moon . While on the Apollo 16 charge , he used the opportunity to rank a photo of his family up there . It shows him , his married woman Dorothy , and their sons Charles and Thomas all sitting on a bench . The back read " This is the mob of Astronaut Duke from Planet Earth . Landed on the Moon , April 1972 . "
alas , the sunlight is harsh on the Moon , temperatures are utmost , and the solar radiation is untempered by any significant magnetosphere for most of its orbit . Photographic print fade moderately speedily , even under relatively controlled stipulation , so — plastic bag or not — after 44 year , there ’s very slight hazard you ’ll still be able to make out the characterisation itself .
6 . AN hug drug - RATED ANDY Andy Warhol DRAWING
As if to prove that anything could happen in the 1960s , when Apollo 12 went to the Moon in late 1969 it took with it a tiny ceramic wafer which contained nontextual matter by six prominent artists . TitledMoon Museum , it hold material from Robert Rauschenberg , David Novros , John Chamberlain , Claes Oldenburg , Forrest Myers , and Andy Warhol , and was unofficially bond to the leg of the Intrepid landing module by an aircraft engineer . The mental faculty was leave behind when the spaceman retort to the orbiting capsule , so it should still be up there . Warhol ’s lottery in the top left over niche was ( allegedly ) a stylized edition of his initial — but was labeled as phallic by many who get word it .
7. A MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN
Do n’t get confused , Her Majesty has n’t been into space ( yet ) , but Apollo 11 did carry a piddling part of the British monarchy up there with it . When they went to the Moon , Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were asked to leave behind a atomic number 14 disc just 1.5 inch across . It hold , in microscopic writing , good will messages from prominent pattern and loss leader of intimately 75 country , let in Pope Paul VI , Indira Gandhi , and Queen Elizabeth II as well as statements from Dwight Eisenhower , John F. Kennedy , Lyndon Johnson , and Richard Nixon . It was plan to persist intact for thousands of year and serve as a reminder that despite the outside tumult of the 20thcentury , leader across the ball were united in their optimism about space traveling .
