Rarely seen footage shows NASA astronauts struggling to walk on the moon

We all know about the 'one small step for man', but not everyone is aware that landing on the moon also consisted of a lot of slow-motion tripping and falling for the astronauts involved.

The Apollo missions landed multiple men on the moon, from Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on Apollo 11 to Harrison H. Schmitt on Apollo 17.

No matter how many people might have step foot on there, however, it seems that walking on the moon isn't something that comes naturally to anyone.

See what I mean in the video below:

News about the Apollo missions is often accompanied with still images showing astronauts standing proudly by the American flag, but a less common sight is that of astronauts bobbing about, trying to get their balance amid the lack of gravity.

I'm not sure why it's a sight that's been kept out of the spotlight, because the video above proves that it's undeniably delightful.

It began doing the rounds on Twitter after the account Universal Curiosity shared the NASA footage, with entrepreneur Sahil Bloom reposting it this week and writing: "I can’t believe I’ve lived 31 years of my life without seeing this. Absolutely hilarious. College me stumbling home from the bar finds this so very relatable."

Obviously falling down is never a particularly pleasant experience, but that's usually because gravity makes sure you hit the ground with some force. That isn't quite as much of an issue on the moon, where gravity is weaker than it is on Earth, and as a result the astronauts end up tumbling slowly, bringing to mind the movements of Mr Blobby.

Though it's funny to watch now, aerospace technologist James McBarron admitted one of his biggest concerns for the first moon landing was that the astronauts would fall and 'not be able to get up'.

Speaking to Universe Today, he explained: “The suit wasn’t that mobile, and it was a known concern. As it was, on later missions we did have several crew members who fell, but they were able to get up. It just took a little dexterity and creativity.”

In a bid to get used to walking on the moon, the astronauts are said to have used a combination of hopping and walking, or running and shuffling in order to make their way around the surface. When they got too carried away, however, they could end up falling over.

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Topics: US News, NASA, Space, Viral

Emily Brown

Emily Brown is UNILAD Editorial Lead at LADbible Group. She first began delivering news when she was just 11 years old - with a paper route - before graduating with a BA Hons in English Language in the Media from Lancaster University. Emily joined UNILAD in 2018 to cover breaking news, trending stories and longer form features. She went on to become Community Desk Lead, commissioning and writing human interest stories from across the globe, before moving to the role of Editorial Lead. Emily now works alongside the UNILAD Editor to ensure the page delivers accurate, interesting and high quality content.