---
title: "Here’s What It Would Be Like to Drive on Different Planets"
description: "YouTube science channel The Action Lab used driving simulator BeamNG.drive to show what it would be like to drive on various heavenly bodies."
date: "2020-04-06"
modified: "2020-04-06"
authors:
  - name: "Jon Christian"
    job_title: "Executive Editor"
    link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc"
url: "https://futurism.com/the-byte/simulation-drive-different-planets"
categories:
  - "Advanced Transport"
tags:
  - "gravity"
  - "moon"
  - "Sun"
  - "the digest"
---

# Here’s What It Would Be Like to Drive on Different Planets

![YouTube science channel The Action Lab used driving simulator BeamNG.drive to show what it would be like to drive on various heavenly bodies.](<https://futurism.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/04/simulation-shows-drive-other-planets.jpg>)
*\<em\>Image: The Action Lab\</em\>*

## Learner's Permit

YouTube science channel The Action Lab had a fun idea: use the physics-heavy driving simulator BeamNG.drive to show what it would be like to drive on various heavenly bodies.

Here's the Earth, for a baseline:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfXNjuoqt0Q&t=1m08s

## Moon Bounce

And here's the simulation with gravity set to that of the Moon, making it difficult to even get traction:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfXNjuoqt0Q&t=1m48s

## Jupiter Descending

Then the YouTubers went hard by flipping on Jupiter's gravity, which immediately crushed their simulated truck into the ground:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfXNjuoqt0Q&t=3m46s

## Sun Ra

Things go completely off the rails when they set the gravity to that of the Sun, instantly crushing the test vehicle:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IfXNjuoqt0Q&t=5m12s

They also try a bunch of other parameters, including lifting the truck up and then dropping it with various gravity settings. The whole thing is worth a watch!

**More on gravity:** [*We May Finally Understand the Speed of Gravity*](<https://futurism.com/speed-gravity>)

## Author
I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production.

### Author social links  
[Bluesky](<https://bsky.app/profile/jonchristian.net>)