Reply With QuotePropellant, projectile, projector.
Recoil might be a problem.
Do Modern Firearms Work in Space?
I've been trying to figure out whether modern hand held weapons such as AR's, Pistols, Shotguns, etc. would work properly as intended in a zero G environment.
Would it matter what type of action the firearms use, and how that would effect their performance in space? Would all the components of a firearms work as intended in a Zero G environment, and if not, what kind of problems/failures would be encountered?
Is there a certain type of action/firearm that would work exceptionally well in a zero G environment?
Propellant, projectile, projector.
Recoil might be a problem.
Newton's law comes to mind, but for this thread, I'm assuming that that isn't a problem.Originally Posted by boone
I would think you'll need to brace yourself, if you'll be shooting firearms in 0G. Also, aiming devices are meant for earth gravity, so you'd need to zero in for no gravity...
Maybe the gyrojet will finally see some action in there...
Sync a controlled co2 burst from a manoeuvring pack and you should be ok.
If you were on an untethered EVA and you fired a round, it would, hypothetically, fly in a perfectly straight line until it ran into something. You would fly in a perfectly straight in in the exact opposite direction. I'm not sure how much oxygen for combustion is included in a cartridge either.
I think if you needed to design something that could shoot a projectile in the vacuum of space, your best bet would be some system that used compressed gas to propel the projectile, as well as project an equal amount of force to the rear, but that would make use around colleagues problematic.
Something like a coilgun might be better, but recoil is still an issue.
http://www.utexas.edu/research/cem/I...blications.pdf
They fire under water too, so I guess there is enough oxygen in the molecular structure of the propellant...
Edit: Yes, nitrocellulose has the oxygen in itself. If other propellant without enough oxygen is used, oxidizer is mixed in with it.
Last edited by Piirka; 06-09-2012 at 09:00 PM.
Also, I'm thinking that the rounds would fly a lot faster, since they have no air resistance dragging them back.
"Fly faster"? Sort of. A more correct description is that they would not be slowed by drag as they would in the atmosphere. But the muzzle velocity would presumably be only a little faster due to not having to push out the air in the barrel in front of the projectile.
From what I remember from Physics Class, air resistance has a huge impact on how fast things go, because, when something, such as a projectile coming out of a barrel, meets air particles on the atomic level, Newtons 2nd law comes into effect. Every action has a equal opposite reaction, which means that basically, the faster something goes, the more air resistance is put on that object. So if a projectile were moving 100 m/s, the atomic level forces of air particles impacting on the projectile and slowing it down would be a lot less than that of a projectile moving at 3000 m/s. On top of that, there is no gravity to pull the projectile downward, which also effects the speed of projectiles.
Whether all this actually amounts to much in regards to speed of said projectile, I do not know, I'm no physics professor. But I would assume that you could probably get anywhere from 100-1000 more m/s in a 0 G environment.
Well, that theory is in the toilet. Thanks anyways for the link to the answer.
Wrong, the gravity does not affect the speed of the projectile, the force pulls the projectile down nothing more.
And actually the friction between the barrel and projectile would be bigger than the air resistance before the projectile leave the weapon. So no way that the bullet would be faster, not even 2 times when it leaves the barrel without air.
Btw. the propellant wouldn't burn without air.
Not true iirc. Inorganic compounds such as potassium permanganate produce oxygen in combination with heat. Therefore it might work
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