A boat in zero gravity : would it sink?

[TriggerHippy]

If it's so cold in space then why is the comet heating up?

Because of the low/zero pressure - the boiling point changes. Instead of a chunk of ice, you now get droplets of ice.

[Churchill]

Because of the low/zero pressure - the boiling point changes. Instead of a chunk of ice, you now get droplets of ice.

A good answer but not the one we're looking for!

[Menelaus]

A good answer but not the one we're looking for!

http://blag.xkcd.com/2009/04/06/a-date-idea-analyzed/

Slightly OT, but still around planetary motion

[Moscow Mule]

The point is that by using the Lagrange points you can effectively cancel the effects of the gravitational pull of planets, this would be an ideal location for 'floating' the boat.

Whatever Floats your boat ...


The Lagrange points mark positions where the combined gravitational pull of the two large masses provides precisely the centripetal force required to rotate with them. They are analogous to geostationary orbits in that they allow an object to be in a "fixed" position in space rather than an orbit in which its relative position changes continuously.

Every played "Gravity Wars"?

Sometimes you can get your projectiles to orbit between two bodies with out ever going around them. That's quite cool.

[AlfredJPruffock]

Every played "Gravity Wars"?

Sometimes you can get your projectiles to orbit between two bodies with out ever going around them. That's quite cool.

Wars ? No more blood and battle for me - that was all in a past generation.

BTW In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Survivors", the Enterprise is surprised by an enemy ship that had been hiding in a Lagrange point.

[original PM]

they co-exist - the sun is in space

mmm think thats bollocks - or you could say the earth is space - but we have a boundary layer where the density of the atomsphere drops off to a point that it has a density similar to that of what is termed space (about 1 hydrogen atom per suqare metre IIRC)

[Drewster]

BTW In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Survivors", the Enterprise is surprised by an enemy ship that had been hiding in a Lagrange point.

but not apparently by the lack (or at least distortion) of "The Laws of Physics".........

[AlfredJPruffock]

but not apparently by the lack (or at least distortion) of "The Laws of Physics".........

Au contraire L2 is an excellent point for any UFOs who wish to observe Earth or the vicinity - you can hang around this area with almost no fuel whatsoever for as long as you like - of crouse these days any alien Ship worth its salt is only visible in the InfraRed range.

NASA already have a satellite there and in a few weeks time the European Space Agency shall have two.

[TriggerHippy]

BTW In the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode, "The Survivors", the Enterprise is surprised by an enemy ship that had been hiding in a Lagrange point.

How does a Lagrange point benefit the camouflage properties of an alien vessel?

[AlfredJPruffock]

How does a Lagrange point benefit the camouflage properties of an alien vessel?

The point being is that an Alien Space craft can 'idle ; at L2 without activating its engines or navigational systems thereby preventing detection, its also a relatively cooler area of space as it doesnt get as much direct radiation from the Sun.