The only difference when pulling the trigger on Earth and in space is the shape of the smoke . In space, “there would be a big cloud of smoke coming out of the barrel of a gun,” said Peter Schultz, an astronomer at Brown University.
However, shooting guns in space can also lead to some rather bizarre scenarios.
After the shot, the bullet will continue to move through space forever.
Imagine you are floating freely in the intergalactic vacuum, just you, the gun and a bullet. You will have two options. One is that you will think about why you are the way you are. And two is to shoot a certain star for entertainment.
With option two, Newton’s 3rd Law would cause the reaction from the bullet to hit the gun in the opposite direction with the same magnitude, and since you’re holding the gun you’ll also be impacted by it. With very few atoms in space to create drag, you’ll slowly drift backwards without even realizing it. If the bullet exits the barrel at 1,000 m/s, you’ll be shot back with a velocity of just a few centimeters/s. The reason is because you are many times larger in size and mass than the bullet.
After the shot, the bullet will continue to move through space forever. “The bullet will never stop, because the universe is expanding faster than the bullet can hit any mass of matter” could slow it down, said Matija Cuk, an astronomer at Harvard University , said. If the universe were not expanding, then one or two atoms in a cubic centimeter would encounter the bullet in near-vacuum space that would make it stand still after 10 million light-years.
Specifically, the expansion rate of the universe is about 73 km / s / megaparsec (equivalent to 3 million light years or close to the average distance between galaxies). According to Cuk’s calculations, matter 40,000 to 50,000 light-years away from the bullet would travel away from the bullet at the same speed, so the bullet would never reach that amount of matter. In the future, bullets will only be able to meet atoms closer to 40,000 light-years from the muzzle of your gun.
By the way, you will also be drifting in space forever after firing that shot.
In fact, guns have also been carried to space, although not yet into intergalactic space. For decades, Russian cosmonaut survival kits included guns. Until recently, guns were no longer included in this kit, but only “a multi-purpose weapon with three parts, along with a shovel and knife” , said James Oberg, space historian. The guns were launched into space so that astronauts could use them when falling into dangerous areas during their return to Earth. But even so, it’s still logically possible for astronauts to shoot miscellaneous guns before landing.
In space, you could theoretically shoot yourself in the back.
So what if astronauts shot at Jupiter while traveling in space?
This astronaut will be able to shoot freely without aiming. According to Robert Flack, a physicist at University College London, Jupiter’s gravity tends to attract the bullet, even if it is fired off target. “Jupiter is so big, it will catch the bullet and bring it back to the planet in a curve,” Flack said.
According to Schultz, if the bullet were fired directly at Jupiter, the planet’s gravity would increase the speed of the bullet by about 60 km/s as soon as it entered its atmosphere.
Shooting in the back is a cowardly act. But in space, “you could theoretically shoot yourself in the back,” says Schultz.
This can happen when you are in orbit around a planet. Since objects orbiting the planet are actually in free fall, it only takes a little alignment and you can shoot yourself in the back. You will need to shoot the bullet at the right angle so it can enter orbit and return to the starting point. At the same time, you also need to calculate how far the body will be pushed back, how the altitude changes after the shot.
“The shot had to be precise,” Schultz said.
Actually, the above scenario is not as weird as it sounds. In fact, Schultz says scientists have tested this phenomenon before to study the effects of high speeds on objects.
However, with the amount of math to deal with, Cuk thinks a better way to commit suicide in space is to stand on a mountain top on the Moon. “Self-shooting yourself can be done if you stand on a mountain top of the Moon and shoot at the horizon at about 1,600 m/s.” This can work as long as you’ve taken into account the Moon’s surface convexity to make sure the shot is fired at the right height.