🚀 go-pugleaf

In article <1993Jan19.235621.13674@mnemosyne.cs.du.edu> mperlman@nyx.cs.du.edu (Marshal "Airborne" Perlman) writes:
: In microgravity, the weight of 'stuff' is less (quite less). And more then 
: once I've seen astronauts handle objects of much mass (and if on earth, 
: much weight) like they were feathers. OK, fine I understand that. BUT
: what allows the shuttle to not be effected by this? For example. If
: astronaut bob was standing in the shuttle, and grabbed a big-ol satellite,
: he reaches out and grabs it... ok? But what doesn't stop astronaut bob from
: accidently grabbing the shuttle or something? and turning it end over end?

Remember, for every action there's an equal and opposite reaction.  So
if bob grabs the shuttle and starts to turn it, bob turns more than the
shuttle does, unless bob is Very Heavy, or is attached to something
Very Heavy.  Not many things up there are Very Heavy, compared to the
shuttle.  Even if bob is attached to something Very Heavy, it would
still take a Long Time to get the shuttle turning (and just as long to
get it to stop turning), because as you pointed out, inertial mass
doesn't vary the way weight does, and your acceleration is gonna be the
amount of force divided by the mass, ignoring angular considerations.

Larry Wall
lwall@netlabs.com