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rebbel's avatar

What would you do in this "lost-in-space" scenario?

Asked by rebbel (35553points) June 9th, 2021

You are working outside of the ISS (international space station) to fix an antenna.
Suddenly you notice that your tether is no longer connected to your space suit.
In your disbelief you accidentally push off of the space station, and you are now ‘floating’ away from it.
You try to steer yourself back to it, using your propulsion system, but you fail.
You have oxygen for about 7 hours.
The space station gets smaller and smaller.
There’s no way back.
You are doomed.

What do you do?
Let close to 7 hours of oxygen escape and be done with it (that’s, life).
Or will you contemplate your existence for the full seven hours?

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13 Answers

zenvelo's avatar

I would use the oxygen in my suit to rig up a jet to push me back to the space station.

kritiper's avatar

I’d be very happy that I took the time and effort to stick my head between my legs and kiss my ass goodbye before I left the airlock.

elbanditoroso's avatar

Puncture my space suit with a sharp point and let the air out in a whoosh.

Why prolong the inevitable?

Inspired_2write's avatar

Do what I can in those 7 hours and if nothing , then wait for a rescue while contemplating my life.

chyna's avatar

I would try any way I could think of to get back to the mother ship in those hours.

ragingloli's avatar

“Hey guys, I seem to be drifting away from the station. Can someone go get me? Thanks.”

And if I remember my time in Kerbal correctly, you are just making your orbit a bit more eccentric than that of the ISS, meaning you will not be drifting away forever.
In fact, it would probably take less than one revolution before you automatically drift back closer to the ISS, intersecting its orbit.

rebbel's avatar

Even if one has, accidentally, kicked/pushed themselves off of the station (as in, they are now moving in a opposing direction from said station)?

ragingloli's avatar

If you are pushing yourself off forward or backwards relative to the orbital motion, I suppose your orbital period would change, and it would take a lot longer to re-rendezvous with the station.
But if you are just pushing yourself orthogonal to the orbital motion, you will move back to the station either once or twice per orbit, depending which direction you push yourself into.

flutherother's avatar

If you pushed yourself forward from the station you would rise upwards and if you pushed yourself backwards you would sink lower. You would tend in the one case to leave Earth’s orbit and in the other to fall back to Earth.

The force you used to push yourself away from the station just might be detected by onboard accelerometers. This information could then be used to calculate the acceleration required to intercept your orbit.

ragingloli's avatar

@flutherother
You are not going to move into a solar orbit by pushing yourself off the ISS.

KNOWITALL's avatar

I’d take a few deep breaths of pure oxygen to get waxed and pop my own top. But then I’m no Sandra Bullock.

filmfann's avatar

As Matt Damon said in The Martian, make small holes in the space suit gloves, and going full Iron Man.

Nomore_lockout's avatar

I would probably prolong it as long as possible, cursing myself the entire time for ever joining the Space Program. And hoping against hope that some way, some how, my fellow astronauts would find a way to rescue me.

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