From our vantage point on earth, the moon looks small. But if you were to jump into a spaceship, put on a spaceship, and embark on an epic moonwalk, how long would it take to complete it?
The answer depends on numerous factors, including how fast you can go, how much time you spend each day, and what detours you need to take to avoid dangerous topography.
Such a journey around the moon can last longer than a year, but in reality there are many more challenges to overcome.
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A total of 12 people walked on the lunar surface, all of which were part of the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972, according to NASA. The footage radiated back to Earth showed how challenging (and apparently enjoyable) it was to walk around in the moon’s lowlands – or to reflect more accurately. gravity, which is a sixth of the seriousness of Earth.
However, research from NASA has since suggested that it is possible for humans to maneuver on the moon much faster than the Apollo astronauts did. Theoretically, the orbit of the moon can be done faster than previously predicted.
Pick up the pace
During the Apollo missions, astronauts bounced around the surface with a comfortable 1.4 km / h (2.2 km / h), according to NASA. This slow speed was mainly due to their uncomfortable spaces under pressure that were not designed with mobility in mind. If the ‘moonwalkers’ had slimmer suits, they might have found it much easier to move and consequently applied the pace.
In 2014, a NASA study conducted in the Journal of Experimental Biology tested how fast humans could walk and run in simulated lunar gravity. To do this, the team got eight participants (three of whom were astronauts) to use a treadmill aboard a DC-9 aircraft, which flew special parabolic trajectories on Earth to increase gravity on the moon to 20 seconds simultaneously.
This experiment revealed that the participants were able to walk up to 5 km / h (3 km / h) before embarking on a run. According to the researchers, this is not only more than double the walking speed managed by the Apollo astronauts, but also fairly close to the 7.5 km / h (7.5 km / h) average earth.
The participants took off at this fast speed because they could swing their arms freely, similar to how people run on earth. This pendulum motion has created a downward force that partially compensates for a lack of gravity. One of the reasons the Apollo astronauts were so slow on the lunar surface was because they could not do it properly due to their clothing.
With this new hypothetical maximum speed, it will take about 91 days to walk the circumference of the moon at 6,786 miles. In this context, it will take approximately 334 days to walk continuously around the 24,090 miles (40,075 km) circumference of the earth at this speed continuously (ie not stopping or eating), although this is impossible due to the oceans.
Clearly, it is not possible to walk continuously for 91 days, so the actual walk around the moon will take much longer.
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Plan your route
Walking around the moon also poses a number of different challenges. “I think logistically, it can be done,” Aidan Cowley, a scientific adviser at the European Space Agency, told WordsSideKick. “But it would be a very strange mission to support.”
One of the biggest challenges is to transport supplies, such as water, food and oxygen.
“I do not think you would carry them in your backpack,” Cowley said. “Because it would be even too much mass, even if you have a sixth gravity.”
Therefore, you will need to have a support vehicle with you, Cowley said. This vehicle can also serve as a shelter.
“Many of the agencies are exploring the concept of having a printer, which can actually support the astronauts when they do reconnaissance missions, such as portable mini-bases,” Cowley said. “You can use it to go in and out at night and then go back in the day and walk around again.”
Moon adventurers also need a spacecraft with a design that allows for optimal movement. Current space suits are still not created with excessive mobility in mind, but some agencies are developing fit packs that allow the arm swing to walk properly on the moon, Cowley said.
The hard topography of the moon would also be difficult to find a suitable route to, especially with meteor craters that can be several kilometers deep. ‘You’ll really want to go around [the craters]”Cowley said.” It’s just too dangerous. “
You should also consider the light and temperature when planning the route. “At the equator [of the moon], and during the day you look at temperatures of about 100 degrees sentigrade [212 degrees Fahrenheit]”Cowley said.” And then it drops to minus 180 C at night [minus 292 F]. “
The lunar cycle also means that there are days where there is little or no sunlight, and at least half of the journey will have to take place in the dark. Protection against these extreme temperatures may be possible with specially designed packs and the rover for protection, but the temperature can also change the state of regolith – a fine gray soil that covers the moon’s solid rock cover – and affect how fast you can walk on it . , Cowley said.
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However, radiation can pose an even greater danger. Unlike the earth, the moon does not have a magnetic field that helps the radiation to reach its surface.
“If there was no major solar activity at a time, it might not be that bad,” Cowley said. “But if there was a solar flare or coronal ejection and you were hit by high levels of radiation, it could make you very, very sick.” (Solar flares and coronal mass ejections both release large amounts of energy and magnetized particles, but according to NASA, they differ in the types of particles they emit, the duration of the event, and the way the radiation they produce moves through space.)
This type of mission also requires a lot of endurance due to the demands that your muscles and cardiovascular system have to exercise with low gravity. “You have to send an astronaut with fitness at ultra-marathon level to do that,” Cowley said.
Even then, a maximum speed of about three to four hours a day could be walked, Cowley said. So if someone walks 4 hours a day at 3 km / h (3 km / h), it will take about 547 days, or almost 1.5 years, to walk the circumference of the moon, if you assume that your route is not too much is disrupted by craters. and you can handle the temperature changes and radiation.
However, people will not have the technology or equipment to accomplish such an achievement until at least the late 2030s or early 2040s, Cowley said.
“You would never get an agency to support something like that,” Cowley said. “But if some crazy billionaire wants to try it, they might be able to pull it off.”
Originally published on Live Science.