OK Nerds, I had a discussion with my uncle (a pilot and aviation nerd) about the movie GRAVITY the other day. He contended that the whole premise of the movie- George Clooney making Sandra Bullock "let him go" was silly because they were tethered together and she could just have pulled on the tether to pull him to her. I always thought in space the a less massive object couldn't effect a more massive one- ie. if I'm braced to a shuttle I still can't move the starship enterprise with my hand because its so much more massive than I am.
He said I could, in fact, move the enterprise because objects weigh nothing in space, so force is force.
I find this hard to believe. Is that true? If I were braced on something, what is the limit to what I can move? can I push a fucking planet?
This guy also claims if I stand on shore and am braced, I could pull the Queen Elizabeth II by a rope. THAT seems absurd.
What say you?
He said I could, in fact, move the enterprise because objects weigh nothing in space, so force is force.
I find this hard to believe. Is that true? If I were braced on something, what is the limit to what I can move? can I push a fucking planet?
This guy also claims if I stand on shore and am braced, I could pull the Queen Elizabeth II by a rope. THAT seems absurd.
What say you?
