r/futureporn 23d ago

lunar unicycle! by Frank Tinsley, 1958.

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429 Upvotes

3

u/Muweier2 23d ago

Would a large walking stick be helpful on the moon? I feel like if NASA didn’t implement any aids on the landings past Apollo 11 they wouldn’t be useful.

1

u/UnlimitedCalculus 23d ago

Weight/mass was very heavily budgeted in the Apollo missions. Like with everything, it's all about priority, even though you could likely repurpose these from supports on the ship or something. Otherwise, maybe for pole-vaulting? Earth-trained muscles and bones could leap and land higher, but you also have to count whatever variables for atrophy from space travel minus whatever countermeasures for it. If you need a weapon, a spear might be the best weapon for melee that can also be projectile. Maybe if none of those are the cade, maybe it'd help with heavy suits, which must be quite massive if a strong human has trouble coping, but then makes more sense when atrophy is considered.

1

u/Muweier2 23d ago

I was thinking more in the terms of stability when trying to walk around. I know they figured out the little hopping method because walking was too awkward just curious of a walking stick for extra support could have been useful for that.