2006-09-22 01:09:10 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Astronomy & Space
there is no up and down....you only get to have up and down on earth i guess. so if u dont have a reference point you really have no direction.
2006-09-22 01:19:54 · answer #1 · answered by Altheea 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
The thing with that question is that in space there is no up or down. The only thing you have is your position relative to other objects. What I mean is if you are in a ship then you would base your facing on what is inside the ship not an "up" or "down".
2006-09-22 08:13:32 · answer #2 · answered by dsi_samw 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I suppose that, if you were close to Earth, "down" would be towards Earth, as it would be the largest and nearest gravitationally important body in the area. "Up" would be away from Earth. In the case of the Discovery from the movie 2001, down would be the inner surface of the slow-spinning centrifuge the astronaut is exercising on, no matter where on the circle he is in relation to the "space" outside the ship. There is a great visual sequence on the shuttle that Heywood Floyd is taking to the space station that illustrates the topsy-turvy nature of "up and down" in that movie too!
2006-09-22 08:40:03 · answer #3 · answered by Black Dog 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The terms up and down don't really mean anything in space. When you think about it, "up" is the direction moving away from the earth's center, and "down" is the direction moving towards the earths' center. No gravity, no planet in space means no up and down. You should watch 2001 A Space Odessey - really interesting treatment of that concept on their spaceship.
2006-09-22 08:13:39 · answer #4 · answered by τεκνον θεου 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
If "natural law" on Earth is applied in space, yes you can tell if you're facing up or down. From space and if you look at the Earth, then your facing down. Look at the opposite direction, then you're facing up. (Another "natural law" on the same premise is: which is the left or right bank/side of a river?. The answer is: face downstream. The one on your left is the left bank/side. The one on your right is the right bank/side).
2006-09-22 08:25:09 · answer #5 · answered by Liwayway 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
It seems that there is no point in space with exactly zero gravity. While in space one must definitely be moving in some direction at one's own (becouse of gravity from an unknown/known source). One's face is down when it is in the direction of one's movement and it is up when in opposite direction of its movement. Movement by virtue of a space craft does not matter in this case.
2006-09-22 08:44:05 · answer #6 · answered by orsel 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well, since "up" and "down" are all relative, it depends on your perception. If you're just floating around in space, "up" would probably mean above your head and "down" would mean below your head. In something like the space shuttle, things are set up in a way that there is a "floor" and "ceiling," so you can also define "up" and "down" in those terms.
2006-09-22 08:12:29 · answer #7 · answered by mojo4395 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
There is no up or down in space. There is only to and from.
2006-09-22 09:45:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
There is no up or down orientation as their is on earth unless it is artifcially created by gravity on a space ship.
2006-09-22 08:18:19 · answer #9 · answered by ligoneskiing 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Its all relative to a defined, fixed point in space.
2006-09-22 08:14:08 · answer #10 · answered by cooperman 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋