Would it be possible to harness the force of gravity and use it as some sort of propulsion system?

Question

In other words, is there anything that can influence the force of gravity? (besides something huge like another planet.)

I had moor in mind of outer space.

I also had in mind of traveling away frome whatever kind of large body, not around it.

Answer 1

Lots of people have already given you the 'slingshot' answer which I think is the best you are going to get.

However, you may be interested to know that gravity could be used to move anywhere on the earth for free! Suppose you wanted to go from London to New York, say. All (!) you would have to do would be to dig a totally straight tunnel between the two. By straight, I mean it would be in a straight line, thus entering the earth at a reasonably oblique angle (NY and London not being that far apart). Think of driving a skewer through an orange, not necessarily through the centre. You could then simply roll (or be in a carriage on a track) down the tunnel. Halfway along you would roll back up. The kinetic energy gained on the way down would exactly match the potential energy needed to get back up. It would seem very odd 'falling' and then 'rising' while moving a completely straight line.

OK - not quite what you are after, but interesting nonetheless.

Answer 2

Check at the National Space Society and Space Studies Institute Web sites. I've kind of lost track of what's new. The last new Idea I heard of involved using laser and some sort of atmospheric refraction to lift space capsules into orbit. I think I understood the idea better when they were just going to blast the bottom of giant ice cube under it to create steam and push it into orbit. Well, they're inventing things faster than I can read about them. Something will work, I just don't know when.

Answer 3

As has been said space probes use the gravity of planets to speed their travel to the outer reaches of the solar system. I felt the need to reiterate this as some idiot has marked all the answers saying that with a thumbs down.

Answer 4

NASA often use the gravitational force of planets to slingshot satellites off to more distant worlds. The technique is used because a more direct route would require too much fuel i.e. much more than current launch technologies can deal with (in a single rocket anyway).

So they are harnessing gravity for propulsion (although probably not in the way you were thinking).

Answer 5

Probably ,,,, but you range capability would be limited to the size or source of gravity you are using ,,,, It would be great for intra-global transportation but if you are thinking about spacial distances then of course you are talking a totally different type of propulsion ,,,, Studies are being made today in the field or areas of magnetic induction ,,,, A self renewable source with in it's self to propel what ever it is that contains this type of drive mechanism ,,,,Probably few if any people remember this but in the mid 70's a man had devised a perpetual motion machine that he tried to get a patent for but was worried that the technical data for it's construction or even the mechanisim it's self would be stolen while being transported to the place where it would exhibited and considered for a patent ,,,, It was later found out that this ,,,,"what ever it was" ,,,, was purchased from this man with enough money to set him up for life ,,,, The man himself had only an 8th grade education ,,,, It was never patented or made available for public use ,,,, At about or around the same time another man had devised a carburator system that he applied to a 20 year old diesel engine that used hardly any fuel at all ,,,,, He went from some where in Kentucky to Miami Florida on something like 4.3 gallons of fuel ,,,,, There was a government hearing conducted to investigate this and it was broad casted on National News for two days ,,,, I remember watching this and during the proceedings of the second day the man was called from the hearing two different times to answer phone calls ,,,, He didn't reveal who the first caller was but when he returned from the second call he did appologise for the interruption but that he had just gotten a call from the Ford Motor Company ,,,, The investigators had several other people who were involved in this area of research on the stand and asked embarrassing question as to why a private individual could devise something like this and not scientist dealing in the area of fuel conservation ,,,, This investigation was aired for two days only then suddenly hushed up and never heard about again ,,,, This is a good example of the power of the all might dollar ,,,, The corporate sector got wind of this and acted immediately to get these inventions and the news about them hushed up ,,,, Our country isn't run but the political people alone ,,,, The true rulers are the corporate sectors of this nation ,,,, You could dub our ruling body as the corporate/political monopoly ,,,, The corporate sector and special interest groups have the majority of our politicians bought and owned and they won't concider a decision until they've thought about just what they will get out of it first and with no regard as to how it might effect the people as a whole,,,, Think about it ,,,, If any of these types of discoveries ever got out then where would the big oil money people be ,,,, They have rules,, laws,, and monopolies legisated and enacted by our politicians to protect their interests ,,,, They don't care what their forms of energy do to the invironment ,,,, Their only interest is the dollar and what it takes to protect their source of income ,,,, The internal combustion engine has actually been obsolite for something like 80 years or more ,,,, There are other sources of energy that don't involve oil at all including water and even garbage ,,,, That's why the corporate sector is always on the alert to keep these sources of energy under wraps ,,,, They'd stab their own mother in the back or shi-t in their own nest to get what they want ,,,, The only problem is that they are shitting in every one elses nest with their polutions too ,,,, You could go on and on about this subject ,,,,But it's been proven that the present sources of energy including neucular energy is obsolite themselves,,,, Our biggest problelm is greed and love of the dollar ,,,, That's why mans advancements is held in check ,,,,That's some or the reasons why these other and alternate sources of energy aren't studied and developed ,,,,,

Answer 6

Spacecraft exploring other planets do this all the time when they 'slingshot' around the sun or another planet to pick up speed. It makes the path to the destination longer but it saves a lot of fuel. And yes, a tiny bit of the helping planet's angular momentum is transferred to the spacecraft (nothing's free) but not so anyone would notice during the life of the solar system.

Answer 7

It is - that's how space probes get into the outer reaches of the solar system, they approach a planet on a particular vector to take advantage of the 'slingshot' effect procivided by the planet/moon/whatever's gravitational field. Obviously you need to be a maths genius to work out exactly how to do it and account for all factors , but it is used pretty frequently.

Answer 8

All hydro power is harnessing the gravity.

Answer 9

Yeh, it's called Bunjee Jumping !

Answer 10

I guess water wheels do this already.