informant
2002-Mar-15, 07:28 AM
After the ship was hit by a meteorite, the astronauts left it and headed for the REMO, using their suit jets.
But I seem to recall that there was a scene after that where they ran out of "fuel", and someone remembered to use some sort of hook as propeller.
They shot the hook in the direction where they wanted to go, like a harpoon, and then they "rewinded it", and it pulled them.
I thought this scene was ridiculous. Even though I don't know much physics, it would seem to me that Newton's law of action-reaction would imply that, if you shoot a "harpoon" in zero-g it will go forward, but you will be pushed backward.
This, of course, assuming that the astronaut would move along a line, which seems wrong too. I think shooting a harpoon in zero-g would make the astronaut spin around himself.
But I seem to recall that there was a scene after that where they ran out of "fuel", and someone remembered to use some sort of hook as propeller.
They shot the hook in the direction where they wanted to go, like a harpoon, and then they "rewinded it", and it pulled them.
I thought this scene was ridiculous. Even though I don't know much physics, it would seem to me that Newton's law of action-reaction would imply that, if you shoot a "harpoon" in zero-g it will go forward, but you will be pushed backward.
This, of course, assuming that the astronaut would move along a line, which seems wrong too. I think shooting a harpoon in zero-g would make the astronaut spin around himself.