If we had a lunar base large enough to host sporting events, the organizers would be in for a lot of trouble. As our satellite has no atmosphere, athletes should wear special equipment capable of providing oxygen and protecting them from the environment , although it would have to be much less bulky and more ergonomic than those worn by astronauts today.
They could be inspired by the BioSuit, a flexible extravehicular suit prototype developed at MIT by astronautics professor Dava Newman. In any case, they should include their own life support system, consisting of heating, an ultraviolet filter and oxygen micro-bombs. The fabric itself could control that the temperature and humidity were adequate.
The suit would be made up of several layers of anti-abrasive fibers and semi-elastic polymers that would exert a mechanical counter pressure by themselves. This would allow the user great freedom of movement. Mini-generators, perhaps integrated into the boots, would convert the mechanical energy produced during sports activity into electricity that would be used to power the team’s systems.
Beware of gravity
The other big problem that athletes would find would be gravity, which on the Moon is about six times less. The apparent weight of an athlete weighing 80 kilos would be reduced to about 13, so they could take prodigious leaps and send discs, weights and balls enormous distances. Furthermore, without atmosphere, aerodynamics would no longer be a factor in discus, javelin, hammer throw tests … In essence, it would all come down to a matter of weight and still the object would fly a lot. further away.
In a report carried out by NASA in which a possible lunar tennis match is theorized, attention is drawn to the fundamental role that dust on its surface would play, a material so dry and prone to static adherence that balls that hitting the ground they would soon accumulate a damaging layer of electrified debris.
The aquatic competitions would have to be contested in closed enclosures and equipped with an artificial atmosphere generator that would protect the swimmers from radiation. This would also allow them to dispense with a special outfit. Even so, unless there was a system that emulated the conditions on the earth’s surface, the aforementioned low gravity would have to be dealt with. For example, on December 18, 2009, Brazilian swimmer César Cielo set the record for swimming in the 50-meter freestyle event in 20.91 seconds. On the Moon, the best initial boost would allow you to reduce it by almost 4 seconds.
Through a gas-free sky, the view of Earth would be magnificent. In the lunar sky, it has a diameter about four times greater than that of the Moon seen from our planet. However, in order for the Olympic flame to illuminate the stadium in this oxygen-deficient environment, the cauldron would have to be hermetically insulated in a flask containing the right mix of compounds to burn.
Images: Brian Harms & Keith Bradley (Cal Poly State University) / Dava Newman / MIT
