Lunar settlers could avoid health problems like muscle wasting by running on the inside of a circular wall to mimic the pull of Earth’s gravity on the body
By Chen Ly
1 May 2024
A research participant runs around a circular wall with a bungee cord to simulate the reduction in weight on the moon
Alberto E. Minetti et al.
Future moon settlers could exercise by running around the inside of a circular wall – and just a few laps a day could counteract some of the negative effects of low lunar gravity.
The moon’s gravitational pull is about one-sixth as strong as that of Earth. This means lunar astronauts’ bodies support much less weight, and an extended stay would cause their muscles to atrophy and their bones to get less dense. Microgravity conditions also affect the way blood flows around the body, harming the cardiovascular system.
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Taking inspiration from the “wall of death” stunt performed by motorcycle riders, Alberto Minetti at the University of Milan in Italy and his colleagues have come up with a novel way for lunar settlers to combat these ill effects.
High-speed motorcycles can travel along a circular wall without slipping thanks to a combination of friction and centripetal force. People can’t run quickly enough to do that on Earth, says Minetti. “But we wanted to see if it was feasible for us to do it on the moon.”
The team members hired an amusement park wall of death that was roughly 9.7 metres in diameter and 5 metres high. They separately attached two volunteers by a bungee cord to a pole high above the wall to support their weight, which made them functionally 83 per cent lighter – equivalent to their weight on the moon.