03. What will happen if you shoot a gun in space? When you fire a gun can you see the bullet flying? (A K2S Question)

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If you shoot a gun in space you will see the bullet flying quickly away from you as you would on Earth if you had a very fast camera. But in space you are not standing on anything so the recoil, or kick, from shooting the gun would push you backwards as well. You would move more slowly than the bullet because you have more mass than a bullet, but you and the bullet would actually move away from each other.


Answer provided by Luke Keller, Ph.D.


Image:K2S logosmall.jpg Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer