Need a bit of help with Jumping in a game

Question

I making an action game (at least for the sake of this question) and when the user presses the spacebar the character jumps. The problem is, if the character is moving right or left, and jumps while he is moving, he will stop moving in mid-air (if the spacebar is released) and just drop straight down. Example:
press right arrow key
player moves right
press space while pressing arrow key
player jumps
let go of spacebar
player drops straight down (does not continue to move right) //Problem
It's pretty simple code, actually:
/* Move player left or right */
if (pressedRight)
        player.x_pos += player.x_speed;
else if (pressedLeft)
        player.x_pos -= player.x_speed;
/* If spacebar is pressed */
if (pressedSpace && !player.moveUp)
        player.moveUp = true;
        player.y_speed = player.INITIALSPEED;
/* if you are in "jump mode" */                         
if (player.moveUp)
        player.y_pos += player.y_speed;
        player.y_speed += .25;
        if (player.y_pos >= TheGround)
                  player.moveUp = false;
                  player.y_speed = 0;
public boolean keyDown(Event e, int key)
        if(key==Event.LEFT)
                  pressedLeft = true;
        if(key==Event.RIGHT)
                  pressedRight=true;
        if(key==Event.UP)
                  pressedUp=true;
        if(key==Event.DOWN)
                  pressedDown=true;
        if (key ==  ' ')
                  pressedSpace = true;
        repaint();
        return true;
public boolean keyUp(Event e, int key)
        pressedLeft=false;
        pressedRight = false;
        pressedSpace = false;
        repaint();
        return true;
}

Answer 1

Run this code and you'll see what I'm talking about:
import java.awt.*;
import java.applet.*;
public class Testing extends Applet implements Runnable
    Thread runner;
    private Image Buffer;
    private Graphics gBuffer;
    final int theGround = 205;
     boolean pressedLeft, pressedRight, pressedSpace;
     final int width = 10, height = 10;
     final int INITIALSPEED = -5;
     double x_pos = 100;
     double y_pos = 190;
     boolean moveUp = false;
     double y_speed = 3;
     double x_speed = 3;
    //Init is called first, do any initialisation here
    public void init()
        //create graphics buffer, the size of the applet
        Buffer=createImage(size().width,size().height);
        gBuffer=Buffer.getGraphics();
    public void start()
        if (runner == null)
            runner = new Thread (this);
            runner.start();
    public void stop()
        if (runner != null)
            runner.stop();
            runner = null;
    public void run()
        while(true)
             /* MAIN CODE*/
            //Thread sleeps for 15 milliseconds here
            try {runner.sleep(15);}
            catch (Exception e) { }
            //paint background blue
            gBuffer.setColor(Color.blue);
            gBuffer.fillRect(0,0,size().width,size().height);
               if (pressedRight)
                    x_pos += 1;
               else if (pressedLeft)
                    x_pos -= 1;
               if (pressedSpace && !moveUp)
                    moveUp = true;
                    y_speed = INITIALSPEED;
               if (moveUp)
                    y_pos += y_speed;
                    y_speed += .15;
                    if (y_pos + height + y_speed >= theGround)
                         moveUp = false;
                         y_speed = 0;
            Draw();
            repaint();
    //is needed to avoid erasing the background by Java
    public void update(Graphics g)
        paint(g);
    public void paint(Graphics g)
        g.drawImage (Buffer,0,0, this);
    public boolean keyDown(Event e, int key)
        if(key==Event.LEFT)
            pressedLeft = true;
        if(key==Event.RIGHT)
        pressedRight=true;
        if (key ==  ' ')
             pressedSpace = true;
        repaint();
        return true;
    public boolean keyUp(Event e, int key)
        pressedLeft=false;
        pressedRight = false;
        pressedSpace = false;
        repaint();
        return true;
    public void Draw()
          gBuffer.setColor(Color.green);
          gBuffer.fillOval((int)x_pos,(int)y_pos,width,height);
          gBuffer.setColor(Color.yellow);
          gBuffer.drawLine(0, 200, 500, 200);
          gBuffer.drawString(("Move right/left, press space, and it will stop and fall straight down! Why?"), 10, 20);
          gBuffer.drawString(("Hold the spacebar down and it will work like it should."), 10, 30);
          gBuffer.drawString(("ALSO, move left or right then *QUICKLY* release and move in the opposite direction."), 10, 50);
               gBuffer.drawString(("-- You should see it pause for a second. Why is that?"), 10, 60);
}Sorry for some reason the tabs get messed up when I cut and pate it from JCreator. :P
PLEASE HELP!
Thanks in advance.