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Galileo's Experiment on the Moon
Galileo, the 16th-century Italian scientist, studied gravity and the motion of objects. It is said that in one of his experiments, he dropped two objects of different sizes from the Tower of Pisa to see if they would fall at the same rate. Although he may not have actually done this, his writings describe what he thought would happen: if gravity is the only force acting on the objects, they would reach the ground at the same time.
During the Apollo 15 mission in 1971, the Falcon spacecraft landed on the Moon, and an astronaut demonstrated Galileo's experiment. Watch as the astronaut drops a falcon feather and a hammer to see if they reach the ground at the same time. What do you think will happen?
Click on the left to watch the video.
How did this experiment support Galileo's findings about falling objects? Write your answer in two to three sentences.