If you’ve been paying attention you know that NASA and other space agencies around the world have some big plans for lunar landings and exploration in the next decade.

I’m not sure any of them include a swimming pool, but once you realize what that would look like, you might wish they did.

After all, who doesn’t want to be able to ride waves like a dolphin does?

Swimming on the Moon would actually feel fairly similar to swimming on Earth, due to the way buoyancy and pressure work together.

Buoyancy is the upward force in a fluid that is exerted on the bodies within it. The pressure within the fluid is greater the further down you go, with the pressure on the bottom being higher than it is on the top – that’s what causes the upward force.

Objects float when the force of a fluid is greater than the weight of the object within it, and since astronauts would be less dense than the water on the Moon, they would float the same way they do down here.

The low gravity on the Moon would cause more sloshing of the water, though, along with bigger waves and yes, we would have an easier time leaping out of it.

This 2012 study also suggests it could be possible for astronauts to run on the water. It looked at how small animals manage the feat on earth, which is either by using surface tensions or slapping the surface of the water “with sufficient vigor to generate hydrodynamic forces on their driving legs to support their weight.”

On Earth, humans are too heavy to make either option work, but on the Moon?

Things could be different.

“Humans would be able to run on water only if they were able to slap water at speeds >30m/s, which they estimate would require about 15 times a human’s available muscle power. However, there are two ways of circumventing these limitations. One way is by reducing gravity, and the other one is by running with floatation devices (giant shoes or fins) as envisaged by Leonardo  da Vinci.”

Researchers believe that humans weighing less than 160 pounds moving at 1.7 strides a second could, in fact, walk on water – as long as that water is on the lunar surface.

I think NASA could redefine that “one step” quote, if they wanted to.

If you thought that was interesting, you might like to read about a second giant hole has opened up on the sun’s surface. Here’s what it means.