It is not generally well known, but NASA actually experimented with motorcycles as the preferred means of transport for the various moon missions. Many felt that the lunar rover was unneccesarily complex and would be subject to failures once on site, particularly due to lunar dust.
So experiments were carried out to develop something more simple and robust and this was the result.
This picture was taken inside the cargo hold of the aircraft that NASA used to simulate weightlessness. By performing a climb and then a dive, weightlessness could be simulated for a few seconds, as per this diagram.
A similar sensation is experienced when riding a roller coaster when it is at the peak of its travel. The plane was known by the astronauts as the “Vomit Comet” as the sensation of weightlessness that it created was most unpleasant.
Subsequent research showed that the lunar rover was going to be reliable and the motorcycle project was abandoned. A pity, really.
In racing news overnight, Casey Stoner is 2nd on the grid for tonight’s Dutch TT and Troy Corser is 2nd at Misano with Superpole yet to come.
