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You can go stream it right now and watch it if you want with a simple search. You can even order videos from NASA. You see, a standing vertical jump of at
least 18 inches on earth can be accomplished by exerting an upward force of around 500 pounds by a 185 pound person. An equation can be derived which gives
the relative heights attained by an astronaut in one-sixth Earth gravity carrying a burden equal to his weight and the same astronaut on earth without a burden. Now, it was assumed that in each case the upward forces were identical since a jump from a standing vertical position only requires the knees to bend slightly. The space suits would not have hampered the astronauts appreciably. The televised pictures of John Young on the moon indicated that he was able to utilize his arms and legs for jumping in an essentially normal manner with very little if any restriction.
Now this is where it gets very interesting. The resulting
ratio of relative jumping ability calculated turns out to be over four now. This means that even with the astronaut gear, Young should have been able to jump over
six feet off the ground if the moon had one-sixth of the earth's gravity.
Now, let's be conservative. let's say he should have been able to only jump three feet off the ground in one sixth earth gravity. Did he? Not on your life.
In actuality, his efforts lifted him at MOST 18 inches off the ground. Observations indicated that young made several attempts to jump as high as he
could but with no success in achieving a height of more than 18 inches. He is shown at the peak of one of his jumps in a now famous NASA photograph.
