Can you fire a gun in space

Of course, if your aim is really good or if you're really unlucky , you could end up shooting yourself. If you're in orbit around a planet — meaning you're being held by a weak gravitational field — and you shoot straight ahead, the bullet will stay in orbit, come around the planet and shoot you in the back [source: Wolchover ]. Sign up for our Newsletter! Mobile Newsletter banner close.

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JUL 11, Researchers have found evidence of two mergers of black holes and their companion neutron stars about million light SEP 06, By Cuk's calculations, this means matter that is 40, to 50, light-years away from the bullet would move away from it at about the same speed at which it is travelling, and would thus be forever out of reach. In the entire future of the universe, the bullet will catch up only to atoms that are less than 40, or so light-years from the chamber of your gun.

Related: In images: Visualizations of infinity. Guns do actually get carried to space, though not quite to the void between galaxies. For decades, the standard survival pack for Russian cosmonauts has included a gun. Until recently, it wasn't just any gun, but "a deluxe all-in-one weapon with three barrels and a folding stock that doubles as a shovel and contains a swing-out machete," according to space historian James Oberg. The space guns are issued in case the cosmonauts need one back on Earth, so that they can protect themselves if emergency landing of their Soyuz spacecraft has left them deserted in a treacherous region.

But still, cosmonauts in theory could shoot their guns before they landed. So what if, during a spacewalk, a cosmonaut opened fire on Jupiter? He or she should feel free to shoot from the hip.

So what about firing a gun? As Vsauce's Michael Stevens shows in the video above , the answers are fascinating, whether you've got a rifle or a water pistol with you. Shoot a cannon on the Moon , say, and there's a good chance you're going to get hit in the back by your own cannonball. Not a bad plot twist for the next Hollywood sci-fi blockbuster. A lot about this depends on where you choose to fire your gun of choice.