Walking in Low Gravity

Greetings,

I have an interesting question for the list. When people think about
a space colony they picture a dome or box on a planet or if they are
a little better educated, they picture a large O'Neill type
structure (sorry, I had to say it that way, the planet bound are
educated, just brainwashed :-), now in a large rotating structure
you will have some odd conditions from the rotation, the larger the
radius the smaller the problem. But if you are in a low gravity
environment, either in a planet or moon bound location or in a low
gravity area of an orbital structure, you may have problems with
walking.

The mechanics of the simple act of walking is basically a pendulum,
our gait is dictated by the speed our centre of gravity swings back
and forth. We are a kind of pendulum but if you put the pendulum
into a lower gravity, you are going to have a slower swing. Without
the encumbrance of a pressure suit, you are going to try to walk
normally, on Mars, Luna or anywhere the apparent gravity is lower
than a full Earth gravity, you are going to either walk very slow or
use a different gait.

Were there ever any studies to look into this?

Comments?

Also has everybody seen this http://www.discover.com/issues/jul-
04/cover/

Darren Brown
Canberra Australia