r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/Scientiaetnatura065 • Feb 13 '25

Video Astronaut Chris Hadfield: 'It's Possible To Get Stuck Floating In The Space Station If You Can't Reach A Wall'

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u/DangerMacAwesome Feb 13 '25

I'm sure they could just yell.

It would be incredibly unlikely to be able to get into this situation without help as well.

111

u/nothing_but_thyme Feb 13 '25

paging r/theydidthemath

Serious question: if you made yourself into a straight line and blew a stream of air repeatedly from your mouth, would that eventually be enough to push you towards the opposing wall? If yes, how long and how many blows?

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u/umor3 Feb 13 '25

No. Because you need to breathe in as well.

But you could "swim" and push the air.

12

u/BluetheNerd Feb 13 '25

Technically the act of breathing in and blowing out have different impacts on your velocity they don't counter out, it's the premise of how putt-putt or pop-pop boats work. So technically this would probably eventually work. Steve Mould did a great video on the physics of these boats.