A Scientific Study About Falling Over on the Moon – Really?
Footage of people falling over, is usually repeatedly viewed as being part of slapstick humor, clumsiness, being intoxicated, family videos of babies growing up or scenes of tragic incidents. If the person falling over is an astronaut on the Moon, the fascination probably has to do with the natural slow-motion pace at which it happens and is possibly perceived as being humorous or an embarrassing moment for the astronaut.
You will, however, be surprised that NASA not only keeps a record of all these falls but analyze them very carefully. You will probably be even more astonished that “falling over” was actually on the list of space experiments of the Appolo 15 and 16 missions. In more technical terms, they were studying the metabolic rates of the astronauts as they moved over various types of terrain and to evaluate the differences between dexterity and locomotion on Earth and the Moon.
With the view on return trips to the Moon, it is not only of scientific but also practical interest to know how the body acts in this environment with its limited gravity. Things like inclines, slopes, and a difference in terrain has to be considered and are recorded very precisely. Every motion, reaction and result of every fall is verbally described moment by moment.
Now you know that all the footage of falling astronauts have a very deep routed scientific implication, which is whatched over and over, analyzed and presented to pannels of the world’s top scientists, to consider with future expeditions and designs. But in the end, what the heck, it still just stays silly slapstick fun to see people falling over, even astraunoaghts in slow motion.
