When I say jump, you say how high.
OK, let’s put this to the ultimate test
by hopping around the Solar System.
Literally.
Every object with mass
is subject to gravity.
This includes you, of course.
Whether you’re standing on your two feet
or lounging on the sofa,
the Earth’s gravity is pulling you
toward the center of the planet.
When you jump,
the force of your muscles allows you
to overcome that gravity and accelerate upward.
Once you’re in the air,
gravity slows you down.
And eventually, your velocity hits zero
and you fall back to the surface.
The planets in our Solar System come in all sizes.
So the force of their gravity differs too.
Your mass would stay exactly the same,
but from one planet to the next
your weight would be very different.
"You guys lost a pound."
So could you bound gracefully over mountains on one,
while on another you’d barely be able to lift a toe?
Before you go on this interplanetary journey in our Solar System,
there's one place you might want to stop here on Earth.
The place where the future is already here.
The Museum of the Future is a new global scientific landmark
provided by Dubai and the UAE to the world.
It shows the amazing new technologies
waiting for the humanity in the following decades.
I mean, look at this.
The Museum of the Future is an architectural masterpiece.
And inside, it has five main levels.
From innovation laboratories with augmented reality
and human-machine interaction
to humanity's next home in space.
Here, you can experience the future today.
I would totally geek out in Level 5
and check out what life could be like aboard a huge space station.
If you like space and exploration, you should head there too.
You know, you need some practical knowledge of the future
before you go jumping on different planets in the Solar System.
Your interplanetary jumping experiment
would begin right here on Earth.
OK, not the most exciting place to start.
But a good place of comparison.
If you’re close to the average jumper,
you should be able to squat,
swing your arms and leap about 0.5 m (1.5 ft) high.
All in about one second.
But don’t let me underestimate you.
If you’re an extremely talented athlete,
like Javier Sotomayor,
you could set a new world record
by jumping over 2.45 m (8 ft).
Wow, not too shabby.
Making a quick first stop on the Moon,
you’d find gravity six times weaker than it is on Earth.
That’s because the Moon has about 80 times less mass.
Here you’d only need to jump at a velocity of 2 km/s
to lift off the surface.
And with your average jumping velocity,
you should be able to jump about 3 m (10 ft) high.
Meanwhile, Earth’s most talented jumper
would be able to bound over an entire house.
OK, moving on to the rocky surface
of the planet closest to the Sun, Mercury.
With a spectacular close-up view
and temperatures hitting 430 °C (800 °F),
you’d be drenched in sweat already.
Mercury is smaller than Earth.
The gravitational pull is about one-third
of what you’re accustomed to here at home.
So despite exhausting conditions,
you’d be able to jump about three times as high.
OK, let’s get out of the frying pan
and into the fire
by taking a leap on an even hotter planet,
Venus.
Very similar in size to Earth,
this planet has a surface gravity about 91% of Earth’s.
Here you’d be able to jump ever so slightly higher
than you could back home.
But you definitely wouldn’t want to hang out for too long
in this thick, scorching hot atmosphere.
So, time to cool off on Mars.
You’d better keep your leg muscles warm though.
The average temperature on the red planet is -62 °C (- 80°F).
But the good news?
You’d feel lighter.
Mars has about 10 times less mass than Earth.
And for this reason,
you’d be able to jump to nearly
the exact same height as you did back on Mercury.
Now, leaving the rocky planets behind,
it would be time to test your skills on a gas giant like Jupiter.
This planet is so large that
all the other planets of the Solar System could fit inside it.
Jupiter has very intense gravity.
So you’d be feeling a lot heavier than you do right now.
If you tried to jump here,
you’d only be able to get a pathetic 20 cm (7.8 in) off the ground.
If it helps your ego,
this scenario would be impossible for a simple reason.
It's because the gas giants have no surface to jump from.
So you’d have to stay on top of your spaceship.
And if I can offer some advice,
don’t fall off.
On Saturn, you’d be surprised to find that
you can jump only
about 3 cm (1.2 in) less than you could on Earth.
Despite the planet having 95 times the mass,
Saturn’s surface gravity is quite similar to our home planet.
OK now, heading towards the dark,
cold edges of the Solar System,
you’d take your leaps on Uranus and Neptune.
Just be sure to avoid slipping on these ice giants.
On Uranus, you’d find a relatively familiar gravitational pull.
Because of this,
you’d be able to jump about 6 cm (2.5 in) higher than you could on Earth.
Finally, you’d reach the bleak, foggy surface of Neptune.
Despite your aching muscles,
you’d power through for one last jump.
And that could be tough
considering the severe winds
that dwarf even the largest hurricanes back on Earth.
But you'd take your best shot
and struggling against the slightly stronger gravity,
you’d reach 44 cm (1.5 feet).
Roughly, the same as back home.
Speaking of back home,
I think it's time to head back.
You’d make it home exhausted.
"What happened?"
Too bad all the planets weren't closer together,
like stuffed into the habitable zone.
Well, that’s a story for another WHAT IF.