Wednesday, April 18, 2012

Slingshots in space

Slingshots in space:


Astronaut Don Pettit is a national treasure—a skilled explainer of science who has taken time out of his many trips into space to make engaging, educational videos for a general audience.

In this video from the International Space Station, Pettit talks about physics in space, using Angry Birds as a model. If you've played the very Earth-based game, you've probably noticed that, when you launch a bird, it moves in an arched trajectory. In space, without the aid of gravity, that's not the case. Slingshot a bird in one direction, and it will just keep going on that direction.

Appealingly, Pettit demonstrates this by, yes, slingshotting a stuffed bird through a Space Station hallway.


Via Virginia Wotring


Video Link






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