Bullets in space stations

[willpittenger]

Two things.<br /><br /><ol type="1"><li>We have a user who is VERY adamant about insisting that Bigelow is NOT developing a space hotel.<li>I never mentioned space terrorists. Nor did the article. Rather, the talk was about suicidal astronauts or a fight.</li></li></ol> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[willpittenger]

<ul type="square"><li>Good luck getting your gun to work in a vacuum. Lubricants might be unpredictable. Furthermore, the gun will need to dissipate heat.<li>Watch out for recoil. You will be affected far more in 1/6 G than 1G.<li>Forget those wimpy rifles. If you can, get yourself one of those magnum sniper rifles. Even here on Earth, they measure the range of those weapons in miles, not feet, yards, or meters. On Earth, the two biggest obstacles at those ranges for accuracy are wind and gravity. On the moon, one is gone and the other is weaker. Yet, those guns achieve their range through sheer speed.</li></li></li></ul> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Will Pittenger<hr style="margin-top:0.5em;margin-bottom:0.5em" />Add this user box to your Wikipedia User Page to show your support for the SDC forums: <div style="margin-left:1em">{{User:Will Pittenger/User Boxes/Space.com Account}}</div> </div>

 

[PistolPete]

Well, according to Newton: circular orbital velocity = the square root of GM/r where G is the gravitational constant (6.67*10^-11Nm^2/kg^2), M is the mass of the planet in question in kilograms, and r is the radius of the planet in meters. The moon has a mass of 7.3477*10^22 and an average radius of 1,737,103 meters. This gives us a circular orbital velocity for the Moon of 1680 m/s which translates to 5512 ft/sec. The only guns that can achieve those kinds of muzzle velocities are tank main guns like the one on the M1A1 Abrams. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p> </p><p><em>So, again we are defeated. This victory belongs to the farmers, not us.</em></p><p><strong>-Kambei Shimada from the movie Seven Samurai</strong></p> </div>

 

[spacefire]

Best argument for bringing guns in space is that they can also be used for maneuvering. Since bullets would go onto different orbits than the one you are in, I guess it would be pretty safe to fire them in space. <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[steg]

Here's another take on the gun they are carrying on Soyuz, care of the Malaysian astronaut. http://www.angkasawan.com.my/blog/index.php?itemid=20

 

[silylene old]

The final Comment in the link about the Malaysian astronaut had an interesting perspective:<br /><blockquote><font class="small">In reply to:</font><hr /><p>Jul 02, 08:04:19 farah wrote:<br /><br />nice one...<br />just one thing that makes me curious...which is you are given the special gun to shoot animals or for hunting rite.....i guess one of you have to slaughter the animals is it?...or not you guys cant eat it since it will not be halal...i guess maybe in the future there should be a slaughter training session for muslim astronouts....dont you guys think so?<br /><p><hr /></p></p></blockquote> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><em><font color="#0000ff">- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -</font></em> </div><div class="Discussion_UserSignature" align="center"><font color="#0000ff"><em>I really, really, really miss the "first unread post" function.</em></font> </div> </div>

 

[kelvinzero]

I was wondering about that airbreathing detail in firefly. I dont think it was a missunderstanding of gunpowder. How about if instead of combining propellent and slug in a cartridge, it compresses atmosphere with fuel in the barrel behind the slug? (sort of like an internal combustion engine).<br /><br />Re bullets in space, how about self sealing bullets: Can penetrate through anything less than 2 inchs then explosively deliver a drug or tazer shock. I imagine them shaped like a umbrellahead nail encapsulated in goo, flying sharp end first.

 

[spacefire]

pretty much anything in LEO is a bullet <img src="/images/icons/smile.gif" /> <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> <p>http://asteroid-invasion.blogspot.com</p><p>http://www.solvengineer.com/asteroid-invasion.html </p><p> </p> </div>

 

[gunsandrockets]

<I was wondering about that airbreathing detail in firefly. I dont think it was a missunderstanding of gunpowder. ><br /><br />I do.<br /><br /><How about if instead of combining propellent and slug in a cartridge, it compresses atmosphere with fuel in the barrel behind the slug? (sort of like an internal combustion engine). /><br /><br />I could accept such a rationalization, except Firefly never bothered to provide any such explanation. No, the problem is they thought they were being clever and 'hard sf' when in reality they were exactly the opposite.<br /><br /><br />

 

[chyten]

<b> I was just imagining firing a gun in freefall. Recoil takes on a whole new meaning. </b><br /><br />Not really. Your body mass is so much greater than the bullet's, the imparted spin will be very slow. It will be a spin, because the firing line will almost certainly be well away from your center of mass.<br /><br />Try firing a gun while floating on a styrofoam raft. That will give you a good idea about relative forces involved. You will move, but not fast.

 

[docm]

It's not just the mass but the total energy the bullet leaves with. <br /><br />For my .50 Desert Eagle pistol this is ~1300 ft/lb <br />For my 300 magnum rifle it's ~3700 ft/lb <br /><br />The pistols recoil is like being hit full blast by welterweight prize fighter.<br />The rifles recoil is like being hit by a wicked heavyweight, twice.<br /><br />How far/fast would you move in that situation given a centered 2-handed grip and an near absense of friction? <div class="Discussion_UserSignature"> </div>

 

[gunsandrockets]

Heh -- the black magic of ballistics.<br /><br />Regarding recoil, why is it that a rifle doesn't batter the shooter just as much as the rifle's bullet batters the target? It's because the recoil energy of the rifle is only a tiny fraction of the energy that the bullet possesses!<br /><br />When a rifle discharges the expanding gasses in the barrel push the bullet one direction and the breechblock the opposite direction. The momentum imparted to bullet and breechblock are the same, so the lighter bullet travels fast in one direction while the heavy rifle recoils slowly in the opposite direction.<br /><br />Even though rifle and bullet have equal momentum, the energy of each object is very different from one another because while momentum = mass x velocity, wheras energy = mass x velocity squared. The fast moving bullet therefore has much more energy than the heavy rifle.