Submitted by Michael Frankfort @mfrank_76
Astronaut performing ‘hammer and feather’ experiment on the moon in 1971 is the coolest thing ever
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Galileo discovered hundreds of years ago that all items released simultaneously fall at the same rate regardless of mass.
Commander David Scott gave a live demonstration for the television cameras at the end of the final Apollo 15 moonwalk. He dropped a feather and a geological hammer at the exact same time to test a theory presented by the renowned astronomer, physicist and engineer Galileo Galilei hundreds of years ago. Galileo famously concluded that all items released simultaneously fall at the same rate regardless of mass. Since they were essentially in a vacuum while on the moon, there was no air resistance and the feather made contact with the surface of the Earth’s only natural satellite at the same moment as the hammer, per NASA.
In an incredibly cool video of the experiment, the objects are seen doing exactly what was predicted by well-established theory. Although the result was expected, it was nonetheless reassuring given the large number of people who watched the experiment and the fact that the homeward journey was heavily dependent on the viability of this particular theory.
Check out this VIDEO as well.