Flipboard<p>Alan Shepard was the first American in space and on a later trip to the moon as part of the Apollo 14 mission, he famously hit two golf balls. In "The Barber, The Astronaut, and The Golf Ball,” excerpted in <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://texasobserver.social/@TexasObserver" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>TexasObserver</span></a></span>, two writers investigate if there was a third ball — and what happened to it. </p><p>“Something that went to the moon is a Holy Grail, then there’s a hierarchy within that level, too,” says Robert Pearlman, a space memorabilia expert. A key measure: “Was it stained by moon dust?”</p><p><a href="https://www.texasobserver.org/book-excerpt-moon-golf-ball/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank"><span class="invisible">https://www.</span><span class="ellipsis">texasobserver.org/book-excerpt</span><span class="invisible">-moon-golf-ball/</span></a></p><p><a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/History" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>History</span></a> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/histodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>histodon</span></a></span> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Books" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Books</span></a> <span class="h-card" translate="no"><a href="https://a.gup.pe/u/bookstodon" class="u-url mention" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">@<span>bookstodon</span></a></span> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/MoonLanding" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>MoonLanding</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/SpaceExploration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>SpaceExploration</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/Newstodon" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>Newstodon</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/NewstodonFriday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>NewstodonFriday</span></a> <a href="https://flipboard.social/tags/FollowFriday" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#<span>FollowFriday</span></a></p>