With NASA’s Artemis programme, humans are set to return to the lunar surface after more than half a century. The last time humans set foot on the Moon was in 1972, under the iconic Apollo programme.
As NASA and other space agencies gear up for the journey, researchers are thinking of ways to help astronauts brave the hostile lunar environment, including the provision of basics like air, food and water. One such important chore also includes- exercise.
Exercise is much more important for astronauts in space than on Earth. Due to the low gravity on the Moon, astronauts tend to become weak and feeble, so much so, that sometimes they need help to stand up or walk after landing back on Earth.
One famous instance related to this was of US astronaut Chris Caddy who was carried by multiple men upon his landing in Kazakhstan after 166 days on the International Space Station.
To tackle this, researchers at the University of Milan found a way that could help astronauts exercise on the Moon – a “Wall of Death” workout.
What is the ‘Wall of Death’ workout?
The team of researchers at the University of Milan tied people to bungee cords to replicate lunar gravity and asked them to run fast enough around the “Wall of Death”- a giant wooden cylinder used for motorcycle stunts at fairs.
The test subjects were asked to be fast enough to prevent themselves from skidding down the wall. Due to the presence of Earth’s gravity, this task sounded difficult, but with the help of bungee cords, the team was successful in reducing the gravity, and people were able to stick to the wall for multiple laps.
This same model can be used on the lunar surface during the stint of astronauts on the Moon.
This exercise is high impact and “just twice a day, for three or four laps” would be enough to keep astronauts’ muscles and bones healthy on the moon, said lead researcher Professor Alberto Minetti.
“This could be a convenient way to train on the moon.”
Calculations by Minetti and his colleagues show that humans would find it extremely difficult to run around a Wall of Death on Earth without falling down. But in lunar gravity, which is one-sixth that on Earth, the feat is much easier.
Exercise on the Moon has concerned researchers for years. The reduced gravity on the lunar surface means the astronauts’ muscles would bear 83 per cent less body weight than on Earth. This risks their fitness levels, as their muscles experience atrophying, and symptoms similar to osteoporosis as their bones become brittle.
Rather than transporting an actual Wall of Death to the moon, astronauts could be housed in circular habitats, allowing them to run around the walls of their off-world homes, the team wrote in Royal Society Open Science.
While the idea of a Wall of Death workout for astronauts on the Moon looks promising, it remains to be seen how practical it would be under the environmental circumstances of the lunar surface.
(With inputs from agencies)
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