What is the big deal about striking a ball with a golf stick? It was, as both Shepard and the ball were on the Moon. The oldest NASA astronaut was performing his second space flight. The first one was a suborbital mission though. In a desperate attempt to catch up with the Soviet Union, the USA launched its rocket on May 5, 1961. During the second mission, Alan Shepard acted as the commander of Apollo-14 spacecraft. The ball rolled over along the lunar surface, yet did not make its way to the hole, as there was no hole.