Why do astronauts seem in slo-mo on the moon, and regular speed in the spac station?

Question

Why do astronauts seem in slo-mo on the moon, and regular speed in the spac station?

Answer 1

The gravity is so low that if they move too fast, they fall over.  On Earth to step forwards you lean forwards, then your body falls forwards (because of the strength of our gravity), and then you move one of your feet forwards so that you have a foot directly between your new centre of gravity and the ground.  On the moon, with 1/6 th of our gravity,  when you lean forward, you fall forwards more slowly, and if your feet move forwards too quickly, your centre of gravity is behind your feet and you fall on your backside.

Try walking forwards without leaning forwards and you will find out how important gravity is to rapid movement.  The astronauts can't even turn fast because the boots have less grip in 1/6 g. On a space station, gravity plays no part in movement.

Answer 2

Air resistance.

There is no air resistance on the moon, but there is inside of the space suit.  When an astronaut moves he has to overcome the resistance of the air pressure inside of his suit.  Inside of the space station the astronauts are in a "shirt sleeve" environment with no resistance on their motions.

Another factor is the simple weight of the suit, they are very heavy and while weight won't mean much on the space station it will be a factor on the moon with 1/6th the gravity of the earth.  Also they are bulky you can't hand your arms straight to your sides.  One design innovation makes use of this by putting a tool rack in the armpit of the space suit.

Answer 3

I disagree with Dan S.  The slow motion is entirely due to the difference in gravity.  Any effect due to lack of air would speed things up, not slow down, but this effect is negligible compared to gravity.

Answer 4

Because in the outer space, there is less gravity and in the space station, there is gravity.