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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!ulysses!allegra!bellcore!petrus!karn
From: karn@petrus.UUCP
Newsgroups: net.space
Subject: Re: Swimming in space
Message-ID: <343@petrus.UUCP>
Date: Fri, 10-May-85 21:43:10 EDT
Article-I.D.: petrus.343
Posted: Fri May 10 21:43:10 1985
Date-Received: Mon, 13-May-85 04:30:56 EDT
References: <> <478@nmtvax.UUCP>
Organization: Bell Communications Research, Inc
Lines: 18

>     Yes, it would. It has been noticed that objects that are floating in
> mid air will start to drift, or change directions when the control rockets
> fire to keep the shuttle pointed the right way, or just change directions.
> If it does happen to an object, it should be the same for an astronaut.

Of course, what's REALLY happening is that the objects remain stationary
in their inertial reference frame, while the ship accelerates "around" them.

I recall seeing a brief but amusing clip from one of the shuttle missions.
Whenever one of the astronauts would release a roll of duct tape, it would
slowly accelerate towards the right and bounce off the wall. If the astronaut
let go of the handle he was holding, he'd also drift to the right and
hit the wall. Obviously, an orbit maneuver was going on, but the orbiter
is so massive that the acceleration given by the OMS is pretty small
(1/2 m/sec/sec, depending on fuel and cargo load, seems about right from
memory).

Phil