Humans haven’t walked on the moon since the end of the Apollo program in 1972, but NASA and other space agencies are preparing to return as early as 2026, launching long-term missions in permanent habitats. One conundrum that NASA’s great minds have been working on is how to keep astronauts physically fit, protecting their bone and muscle mass, as they begin to break down without normal gravity to work against. If we’re going to sustainably walk on the moon, we need to find a way to run on it, too.
Scientists have come up with a clever potential method for keeping astronauts’ bodies from weakening in the low gravity environment and helping to prevent the cardio-respiratory and neuro-control deconditioning that occurs on the moon. The researchers recommend prescribing several runs per day around a “lunar Wall of Death.”
The concept has been tested using a rented Wall of Death (a massive silo-shaped wooden cylinder that motorcyclists use to perform stunts, held in place by friction and centrifugal force), a 36-meter-tall telescopic crane, and bungee cords. By suspending the runner in this way, they were able to emulate lunar gravity, taking off five-sixths of their body weight. Their experiment found that it was possible for a human to run fast enough in lunar gravity to remain on the wall and create enough lateral force to keep their bones and muscles from deteriorating.
“I’m amazed that nobody had the idea before,” Alberto Minetti, professor of physiology at the University of Milan told The Guardian. “This could be a convenient way to train on the moon.”
Minetti and his colleagues say that while it would be extremely hard to run around a Wall of Death on Earth without falling down, in lunar gravity, which is one sixth of the force on Earth, it should be feasible. He calculates that an astronaut would need to run at more than 8 miles per hour to pull it off. Run the wall for just a few minutes at the start and end of each day—a few short sprints—and the “artificial gravity” created should keep the astronaut’s bones and muscles strong.
In a research article in Sara Hall Smashes American Masters Marathon Record, Minetti and his team propose that instead of dealing with the odd logistics of transporting an actual Wall of Death to the moon, the astronauts could be given circular living quarters, giving them a built-in running track on the walls of their lunar home.
Abby Carney is a writer and journalist in New York. A former D1 college runner and current amateur track athlete, she's written about culture and characters in running and outdoor sports for Runner's World, Like the Wind Magazine, Fiona OKeeffe Is on the Road to Recovery, and other outlets. She also writes about things that have nothing to do with running, and was previously the editor of a food magazine.
