Unless the craft encountered an obstacle (gravity, astroid, etc) in space it would continue on its path with no change in speed or direction forever.
However, assuming your putting an object in orbit of the sun/earth/etc, it will slow down and be pulled into the object of highest gravitational pull.
But this can take anywhere between days to millions of years. It all depends on the proximity of gravitation mass and any obstacles.
To reach a circular orbit, spacecraft must accelerate to more than 7.8 meters per second horizontally.
So, compared to Earth, if your spacecraft travels at only 1,000 miles per hour when its engine cuts out, momentum will carry it along its ballistic trajectory, past the apex, thence a terminal arc until ground impact.
The spacecraft would continue moving in the same direction at the same speed. This is because there is no air resistance in space, so the spacecraft would not experience any slowing force. The only way to change the direction or speed of the spacecraft would be to use the engines or some other force (like gravity).
Things in space move a bit like a puck on an air hockey table. Once they are moving, they keep moving in that direction until they hit something, or something pushes on them, or their engine pushes them. An air hockey puck doesn’t have its own engine, but it can hit things (like the table’s bumpers), and it can encounter external forces (like a player’s striker).
Differences that you’ll start noticing after you get to higher grades: An air hockey table is two dimensional, but space is three dimensional. An air hockey table makes the puck frictionless by floating the puck on a cushion of air. Space makes the spaceship frictionless by having practically no air. An air hockey puck still has some friction, but the spaceship has practically no friction. An air hockey puck has no engine, so cannot change its own speed and direction.The spaceship can have its own engine which it can use to change its direction and speed without having to have something hit it. Oh, and when something hits an air hockey puck, the puck bounces. When something hits a space ship, the space ship explodes.
Once you reach 1000mph you turn off the engine and its like you’re on a bike going downhill
Technically you’ll slowly slowly slowly slowly down as you hit small debris
But you only need massive fuel to get through earth’s atmosphere. Once you’re out into ‘open space’ you just coast your way to your destination
It will continue moving at 1000mph in the same direction until something causes it not to.
Most of space is a pure vacuum. There is no air or other matter to cause friction and slow it down like if it was flying in Earth’s atmosphere. It will keep traveling at that same speed and direction until a force or object comes in contact with it and affects its direction and speed of travel.
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