In media you’ll occasionally see someone stranded in freefall in space use a gun, or fire extinguisher, or thrown object, or something to try to alter their trajectory. Hell, pop a bottle of champagne and rechristen the ship!
Would this actually work though? I know you don’t have to deal with friction, but would these tiny amounts of thrust be enough to significantly effect a much more massive object?
Will firing a 125 gram 9mm round have a noticeable effect on a 80,000 gram astronaut drifting away from his ship?
It seems hard to believe,but then I’ve heard of stuff like solar sails which can apparently move an entire ship using just photons? So I don’t know.
In: 9
Generally speaking, it will work, though it probably won’t be as simple as typically depicted in media. If the force is not perfectly aligned with your center of mass, you’ll start rotating, which could massively complicate any further course corrections
Latest Answers