Incredible experience: Apollo astronaut almost died trying to jump high on the Moon

July 20 will mark the 50th anniversary since the first time humans landed on the Moon.To celebrate the great event, Apollo astronauts are traveling around the Earth, meeting to review memories related to the great moment of mankind.

At a meeting with these astronauts at the Cradle of Aviation museum in New York, Charlie Duke, who controlled the Moon Landing module during the Apollo 16 mission, told Business Insider about his experience following him. considered the scariest of his life.

' It was 1972, and in Munich we were hosting the Olympics, so we launched the' Moon Olympics ',' said Duke, who at the time was 36, the youngest person ever to step up. Moon.

But he hasn't really mastered the main steps in that bulky suit.This led to an accidental fall that was able to tear apart the only barrier between him and the infinite space of the Universe - which could have killed Duke.

Duke's deadly high jump

At the Cradle of Aviation Museum - which showcases moon landing modules - the astronauts answered a number of questions, including the president's project to send people back to the Moon in 2024. Donald Trump, and what the next 'Apollo moment' will be.

When asked about some lesser known stories, Duke spoke of a detail recorded in his 1990 book, 'Moonwalker'. Duke said that he and commander John Young decided to use the last minute on the surface of the Moon to defeat some of the achievements set on Earth by the athletes. This is entirely possible, because the Moon's gravity is only one sixth of the Earth's.

' We have started to jump high, ' he said.

Although they were just playing with each other, he could reach a height of 1.2 meters - an impressive distance, especially when Duke was wearing a bulky clothes.But when he stretched out into the air, everything went wrong.

The Apollo astronauts' clothes weigh more than 136kg on Earth, but in the Moon environment, the suit is only approximately 22kg.Even so, more than half the weight of the suit is in the backpack on the back, the set makes the wearer lose balance.

' The briefcase weighed nearly as much as my body, so I lost momentum ,' Duke said. ' The backpack made of fiberglass, contains all the life support equipment for me. If it fails, I'll die . '

Duke tried to tilt to the right to prevent the 'landing' but still fell on the backpack - also known as PLSS, a type of nursing equipment.

If he chipped the device or tore the clothes, it would create an 'air-leak' phenomenon, or the loss of oxygen to breathe.This may render Duke unconscious and may kill him before Young can pull him back to the module, close the valve and balance the air in the ship.

' My heart was beating wildly nonstop. John Young, my commander, came and said, 'It was an unwise decision, Charlie.' I just said, 'Pull me up, John ,' he said.

As soon as he was able to stand up, Duke heard the sound of the PLSS device so he could decide if he had a problem.

'The pump is still running normally. I said 'I think everything is fine '. I had another lesson: Never do anything in the air if you haven't practiced it thoroughly. And we have never practiced high jump ever , 'Mr. Duke said.

A TV camera captured the scary moment of Duke, but was blocked by a piece of equipment.

Stumble on the moon

This is also not the only time Duke fell on the Moon.While poking the identification device through the ground, he fell forward, and fell after trying to pick up a clip (which he used to pick up a hammer that had dropped a while ago).

Several other astronauts have the same problem - humans have never been operated in low gravity, causing the body and objects to function abnormally.

Not only that, even after months of hard training, Apollo astronauts often struggled with heavy, rigid and difficult-to-use clothes.Having to operate it is like wearing an inflated balloon.Bending to pick up an item in the gloves is almost impossible, so the astronauts have to rely on the tools available.To sit down, they need to jump up, and use the force of the ground to compress this full-bodied outfit.

The video below is a compilation of astronauts' falls on the Moon.That's funny, but also full of dangers.

For future missions to the Moon and Mars, NASA and aerospace companies are designing lighter, more balanced, and easier suits for simple actions.

With these improvements, astronauts will no longer have to put them in a dangerous position when they fall down on missions of NASA or SpaceX.