What Happens If You Drop A Bowling Ball From Orbit?
You've heard of people dropping coins off the Empire State Building or Eiffel Tower, just to see what happens? Well, let's say you're in orbit above the Earth, like on the International Space Station perhaps. You pick up a bowling ball and chuck it straight down at the Earth. What happens?
A: You'll miss B: The bowling ball will fall straight down and enter the Earth's atmosphere. It will either burn up or make a really big splash (or crater) somewhere. C: Nothing will happen, because there's no gravity in space. D: The bowling ball will come back and hit you.
We'll get to the answer right after the author's notes…
AUTHOR'S NOTES
So, we're now back with the Diablo as it enters the Nova Dagon docks. I did my best to show the scale of the hangar bay, but without atmospheric effects, it's surprisingly tricky to illustrate scale. I've read that this is a real potential problem in outer space; using just your eyes, it can be difficult to judge distances.
Previously, Sergei has been given an ultimatum by the Captain, that he must end his relationship with Ula. Unbeknownst to the rest of the crew, Ula's mind has been hijacked by malevolent forces that don't appear to hold human life in much esteem. We'll see how this plays out in the pages ahead!
Also, my For Your Consideration Poster (finally!) went up on the Drunk Duck Awards page, so go check it out! It's a slapdash homage to 'Total Recall' (the good version, with Ahhnold Shwarzenegger), one of the handful of sci fi movies I hold near and dear. Anyone who says it reminds them of 'Avatar' will be flogged.
This is one of those fun mental problems that helps to visualize why space travel is so maddeningly unintuitive. So, what happens if you drop a bowling ball from orbit? It's sort of a trick question… which is why I don't like multiple choice questions; you could rationalize at least three of those answers being true.
The obvious answer seems to be that the ball would just travel straight down, however long it takes, until it hits the Earth (or at least the Earth's atmosphere). But that's forgetting a few things. There is no “down” in space, and the space station is in orbit, meaning it's traveling at a very high constant speed lateral to the Earth's surface. When you drop the ball straight “down,” it's still traveling at orbital velocity, so it will not hit the Earth. All you've done is put it in a slightly different orbit.
So the answer then would be:
A:You'll miss
But… there are a few more things to consider. The ISS is in orbit, but it's not technically all the way out of the Earth's atmosphere. It does still experience a very small amount of drag and needs to be periodically boosted to maintain orbital velocity. The bowling ball has no boosters, so eventually it will slow down to a point where it reenters the atmosphere and falls to Earth. So, while it won't fall “straight” down, you could make an argument for Answer B. As for Answer D, it is possible that the bowling ball could come back and hit you. Orbits have an element of synchronicity to them, and the orbit of the ball will overlap with your orbit at the point where you released it. So, if the timing is just right (or wrong, depending on how you look at it), you actually can get smacked by something you “dropped” while in orbit!
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