Guns... in... SPACE...

[ArmasTermin]

First quiestion FTW.

If you fired a handgun in space, would the recoil be enough to effectively move you around? Would it be too powerful? Or would there be some weird law of something that discounts the whole idea?

I think this idea came to me from watching Cowboy Bebop. Spike shot a gun (Jericho 941, I believe, but I haven't seen the episode in a while) while in space to move himself around in this such way. Never thought of asking about it, though.  

[Isitcanbemuletiemnao]

ArmasTermin

First quiestion FTW.

If you fired a handgun in space, would the recoil be enough to effectively move you around? Would it be too powerful? Or would there be some weird law of something that discounts the whole idea?

I think this idea came to me from watching Cowboy Bebop. Spike shot a gun (Jericho 941, I believe, but I haven't seen the episode in a while) while in space to move himself around in this such way. Never thought of asking about it, though.

I doubt it would give much push, unless it was a very large gun.  

[tokarov]

its all physics......firstly the bullet would leave and travel....and keep going and going and going until acted upon by an outside force

as for making you the individual fly back, i doubt it, the recoil would have to be far greater than that to move a mass so large, it will move you probably, but not very much and nothing you couldnt control with your wrist, and with the absence of gravity i dont think it would be difficult

my question is would the bullet even fire, seeing as how space is ******** COLD the metal my act funny, also since there is no O2 in space, it cant burn, possibly

im not sure on this just a theory....im surprised nasa has not done any testing on this (or have they)  

[Isitcanbemuletiemnao]

tokarov

its all physics......firstly the bullet would leave and travel....and keep going and going and going until acted upon by an outside force

as for making you the individual fly back, i doubt it, the recoil would have to be far greater than that to move a mass so large, it will move you probably, but not very much and nothing you couldnt control with your wrist, and with the absence of gravity i dont think it would be difficult

my question is would the bullet even fire, seeing as how space is ******** COLD the metal my act funny, also since there is no O2 in space, it cant burn, possibly

im not sure on this just a theory....im surprised nasa has not done any testing on this (or have they)

I don't think you can shoot in deep space, but if you were inside a bulletproof spacecraft, you could. This was the reason that gyrojets kicked a**. Solid rockets, they'd fire in space, underwater... anywhere.  

[Floyd]

I posted an article excerpt two months or so ago about the Russian Salyut 3 Almaz orbital platform where they tested firing a 23mm Nudelmann aircraft cannon for anti-satellite purposes. Their claim is they shot up at least one test object in 1974.

So you can shoot things in space if you have enough money and technology.

My money would be on an astronaut being pushed fairly far if he or she fired a pistol like a Colt .45 outside of the effects of gravity.  

[Rommel_Desert_Fox]

ArmasTermin

First quiestion FTW.

If you fired a handgun in space, would the recoil be enough to effectively move you around? Would it be too powerful? Or would there be some weird law of something that discounts the whole idea?

I think this idea came to me from watching Cowboy Bebop. Spike shot a gun (Jericho 941, I believe, but I haven't seen the episode in a while) while in space to move himself around in this such way. Never thought of asking about it, though.

Be an example to your men,
in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself,
and let the troops see that you don't in your endurance
of fatigue and privation.

I read the question and I instantly thought of that episode (heavy metal queen).

The concept is plausible. Anything in motion remains in motion unless effected by an outside force and everything at rest remains at rest unless affected by an outside force. In space there is no wind, no gravity, pretty much nothing else so the recoil will move you. Sadly though in a realistic point of view the vacuum of space would have killed poor spike. D=

Always be tactful and well-mannered and teach your
subordinates to do the same. Avoid excessive
sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually
indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide.

 

[Rommel_Desert_Fox]

tokarov

its all physics......firstly the bullet would leave and travel....and keep going and going and going until acted upon by an outside force

as for making you the individual fly back, i doubt it, the recoil would have to be far greater than that to move a mass so large, it will move you probably, but not very much and nothing you couldnt control with your wrist, and with the absence of gravity i dont think it would be difficult

my question is would the bullet even fire, seeing as how space is ******** COLD the metal my act funny, also since there is no O2 in space, it cant burn, possibly

im not sure on this just a theory....im surprised nasa has not done any testing on this (or have they)

Be an example to your men,
in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself,
and let the troops see that you don't in your endurance
of fatigue and privation.

In space there is no wind or gravity so you're essentially weightless. It could very well work.

Always be tactful and well-mannered and teach your
subordinates to do the same. Avoid excessive
sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually
indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide.

 

[tokarov]

Isitcanbemuletiemnao

tokarov

its all physics......firstly the bullet would leave and travel....and keep going and going and going until acted upon by an outside force

as for making you the individual fly back, i doubt it, the recoil would have to be far greater than that to move a mass so large, it will move you probably, but not very much and nothing you couldnt control with your wrist, and with the absence of gravity i dont think it would be difficult

my question is would the bullet even fire, seeing as how space is ******** COLD the metal my act funny, also since there is no O2 in space, it cant burn, possibly

im not sure on this just a theory....im surprised nasa has not done any testing on this (or have they)

I don't think you can shoot in deep space, but if you were inside a bulletproof spacecraft, you could. This was the reason that gyrojets kicked a**. Solid rockets, they'd fire in space, underwater... anywhere.

why not? assuming you could fire the weapon without problem, then the projectile would continue to move unless acted upon by an outside force  

[Fresnel]

tokarov

Isitcanbemuletiemnao

tokarov

its all physics......firstly the bullet would leave and travel....and keep going and going and going until acted upon by an outside force

as for making you the individual fly back, i doubt it, the recoil would have to be far greater than that to move a mass so large, it will move you probably, but not very much and nothing you couldnt control with your wrist, and with the absence of gravity i dont think it would be difficult

my question is would the bullet even fire, seeing as how space is ******** COLD the metal my act funny, also since there is no O2 in space, it cant burn, possibly

im not sure on this just a theory....im surprised nasa has not done any testing on this (or have they)

I don't think you can shoot in deep space, but if you were inside a bulletproof spacecraft, you could. This was the reason that gyrojets kicked a**. Solid rockets, they'd fire in space, underwater... anywhere.

why not? assuming you could fire the weapon without problem, then the projectile would continue to move unless acted upon by an outside force

Not sure, but firing a bullet in space leads nowhere. The gyrojets used the same solid booster that the space shuttle used, so they could still move in deep space.  

[I am an eggplant]

s**t, how did I miss this topic?

Smokeless powder contains its own oxidants, so it would fire in space and would have a constant speed until it hits an object.

As for the recoil, whatever force is applied to the bullet will be applied to you. Since you have more mass than the bullet, you will just move at a lower speed.  

[Rommel_Desert_Fox]

Be an example to your men,
in your duty and in private life. Never spare yourself,
and let the troops see that you don't in your endurance
of fatigue and privation.

Always be tactful and well-mannered and teach your
subordinates to do the same. Avoid excessive
sharpness or harshness of voice, which usually
indicates the man who has shortcomings of his own to hide.

 

[Crash Maniac]

 

[Jarlo Jarlego]

I'm not too sure a bullet would even fire in space. but even so, if you were just floating in space, and you fired a handgun, you'd go spinning into a backflip unitl something came and stopped you. with out gravity, you have nothing to put your feet on, nothing to brace yourself. it's not just your hand that gets affected by the recoil, it's your whole body.  

[Sagakuru]

it doesnt matter that there isnt any air, the case creates its own environment. my question is how fast would it go, since there's no air to cause drag, it could go faster, and the vacuum could pull the bullet out quicker. another question is since space is so cold it would cool the barrel, but how would it react with the heat shock of the gases, and what effects would the vacuum itself have on the barrel, the buildup of gases on the inside and the absence thereof on the outside may compromise the structural integrity of the metal, causing it essentially to shatter.
as for blackpowder, it may not be that it would fire at all, the fulminate of mercury would work but theres no air for the flame to travel through, however if the flame could indeed travel to the powder would the powder ignite, and if it did would it fizz or go off?  

[Fresnel]

Sagakuru

it doesnt matter that there isnt any air, the case creates its own environment. my question is how fast would it go, since there's no air to cause drag, it could go faster, and the vacuum could pull the bullet out quicker. another question is since space is so cold it would cool the barrel, but how would it react with the heat shock of the gases, and what effects would the vacuum itself have on the barrel, the buildup of gases on the inside and the absence thereof on the outside may compromise the structural integrity of the metal, causing it essentially to shatter.
as for blackpowder, it may not be that it would fire at all, the fulminate of mercury would work but theres no air for the flame to travel through, however if the flame could indeed travel to the powder would the powder ignite, and if it did would it fizz or go off?

On the contrary, space would FAIL to cool a gun. Think about it, with no medium to cool, it can't give off excess heat by convection or conduction. It would have to radiate it. It would have to get red-hot before it could get up a decent radiative cooling, and by then your gun is long past ruined.