Lunar Gravity Laboratory
Change mass, Earth jump height, launch speed and launch angle to see how the same starting conditions behave under Earth and lunar gravity. The simulator separates mass from weight and labels idealised motion separately from real human performance.
Earth and Moon comparison
Projectile paths at the same launch speed and angle
What this simulator calculates
The Moon has mass and therefore has gravity. NASA gives the Moon's average surface gravitational acceleration as about 1.62 metres per second squared, roughly 0.165 times Earth's surface gravity. The simulator uses 9.80665 m/s² for standard Earth gravity and 1.62 m/s² for the Moon.
Weight is a force. The calculator uses W = m × g, where m is mass in kilograms and g is gravitational acceleration. Your mass remains the same, while the gravitational force acting on that mass changes.
Why a theoretical lunar jump is not a prediction of astronaut performance
If a person could leave the ground with exactly the same take-off speed on Earth and the Moon, the lower lunar gravity would allow a much higher ballistic arc. The simulator infers take-off speed from the Earth jump height and then applies the same speed to lunar gravity.
Real lunar movement does not scale that cleanly. A spacesuit adds mass and restricts joint movement, the surface changes traction, balance works differently, and a person may choose a different movement pattern. Apollo astronauts frequently used hopping and loping motions, so the result shown here is a physics comparison rather than a forecast of how high a specific person would actually jump on the Moon.
How the projectile calculation works
For a projectile launched and landing at the same elevation, the simplified range is R = v² sin(2θ) / g. Maximum height is H = v² sin²(θ) / (2g). Flight time is T = 2v sin(θ) / g. The graph samples these equations over time for Earth and the Moon.
The lunar calculation neglects aerodynamic drag. That is a useful approximation because the Moon does not have a dense, collisional atmosphere like Earth's; it has an extremely tenuous exosphere. The Earth curve also ignores air resistance so that the comparison isolates gravity.
Assumptions and limitations
- The simulator treats surface gravity as constant over the distances shown.
- Projectile launch and landing elevations are equal.
- The projectile model ignores terrain, rotation, aerodynamic drag and local gravity variations.
- Jump results assume identical take-off speed and therefore do not model muscles, suits, traction, fatigue or balance.
- The tool rounds results to a useful number of digits instead of implying laboratory precision.
Sources
- NASA Glenn Research Center: Moon - lunar surface gravity and basic lunar physical properties.
- NASA Glenn Research Center: Weight Equation - relationship between mass, gravitational acceleration and weight.
- NASA Science: The Moon's Atmosphere - description of the Moon's extremely tenuous exosphere.