@S1-A.ARPA,@MIT-MC:PMR@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA (05/03/85)
From: Paul Roberts <PMR@COLUMBIA-20.ARPA> But how could you come to be in the middle of large zero-G room at no velocity ? Theoretically, by throwing out some mass in mid-flight (ie in such a way that it carried away all your momentum relative to the room). But in practice you would never get this exactly right; you'd be left with enough residual drift to carry you to a wall eventually. I recall one story (A.C. Clarke ?) in which someone found himself in such a predicament and used the only available reaction-mass: his shorts. At this point, a visiting Congressman's wife enters and our hero's career suffers a setback. Paul Roberts pmr@columbia-20 -------