How will we walk?

Mike,

The bunny hop was something of a compromise, they had problems with
walking in a suit that didn't want to flex the right way due to pressure
and then there was having that mass on their backs and I believe that
they may just have had a problem with the very effect I am asking about
here, walking would have felt wrong.

Interesting.

Darren Brown
Canberra Australia

From: Combs, Mike [mailto:mikecombs@...]
Sent: Friday, August 13, 2004 12:36 AM
To: spacesettlers@yahoogroups.com
Subject: RE: [spacesettlers] How will we walk?

From: Darren Brown [mailto:darren@...]

> 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?

Some of the Apollo astronauts did report that a kind of kangaroo hop
seemed more efficient than a normal gate. Of course results outside of
pressurized spacesuits may differ.

Regards,

Mike Combs

s/S=:HM/A!64331/rand5664357>

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