Firing a piton doesn't need to push YOU in the opposite direction, it just
has to push SOMETHING. Momentum needs to be conserved, and there are many
tools made that manage that without transferring momentum to the operator.
Some guns, for example, especially some military ones. But the master in
this area is NASA, with many of their space-based servicing tools.
Making a reactionless (from the operator's standpoint) piton setter sounds
pretty easy. But you'd probably have a gas exhaust vent on its back (or even
a dummy mass port), so you'd need to be careful where you stood when using
it!
Chris
________________________________
Chris L Peterson
http://www.cloudbait.com
----- Original Message -----
From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: "Sterling K. Webb" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Cc: "Meteorite List" <[email protected]>
Sent: Friday, May 16, 2008 7:05 AM
Subject: Re: [meteorite-list] NASA Considers Manned Asteroid Mission
Hi Sterling:
Do not mean to rock your boat, but how do you fire the piton? "For every
action there is an equal and opposite reaction" (read that somewhere).
Firing the piton would send you off into space, even if you were in
"orbit" around the object.
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