Jumping Because...

I've always loved to jump: When I was in track in elementary and middle school, I did the running long-jump. 8th grade fitness testing revealed that I had more than an 8½-foot standing long-jump. High school track (even though I wasn't in the entire season)? High jump. When I'm at the beach I can't help but find a rocky area and bound from boulder to boulder. Sometimes it's kind of a stupid distance but I do it anyway. At my old house I could leap off nearly the top stair down to the bottom. And I did it most every time I went downstairs. Vertical leap assessments in a late high school weight training class pushed me to the 29" mark.

So then, why do I do it? Simple (I'm not going to tell you yet though. It's a suspense thing). On my daily mosey to get the mail, I observed the common hop of grasshoppers across my path. I was impressed to think that this creature could easily be traveling 20 times the length of its body with every leap. Now imagine if humans could take short flights of this magnitude. We would be able to fly a hundred feet or more. So (here comes the clincher) if that were true, a parabolic flight path would be assigned. What happens at the top of a parabolic flight? Loss of G-forces. Weightlessness.

That's probably why I jump. I've always wanted to be an astronaut and part of that dream is to experience life in a microgravity environment. Jumping here on Earth is the only way I can (even if I've been unaware of it all this time) simulate that. I can also think of other extensions of this idea: amusement/thrill park rides, bumps that make your stomach feel cool when you drive over them fast in a car, turbulence in an aircraft, and swimming. These all have some element of weightlessness attached to them and all are activities I enjoy. If I ever make it to the elite ranks of astronaut-in-training, I think all those crazy endurance tests will go pretty smoothly.

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