If it was possible to shoot a gun in space,could you hit the moon from the space station how long would it tak

Question

and how long would it take to get there.

Answer 1

Hmm-m. Interesting question...

I thought about this for a while and see no
reason why this math would not be correct.
Assuming that the bullet did explode when
struck by the firing pin, and the bullet left
the end of the barrel of the gun at say
2000 feet per second velocity...

2000 fps = 1800 Mph

The Moon is 239,000 miles from Earth.
Let's say you were 10 miles up in the sky
when you fired the gun. Distance = 238,990 Miles.

So, 238,990 / 1800 = 132.7 hours

Since there is no atmosphere in space to slow down the
bullet as it traveled, we can estimate that the bullet would
continue traveling at 1800 mph for the entire trip. The
gravitational pull of the Moon would influence the bullet's
velocity somewhat towards the end of its flight, but my
figures show that with 1/6 the gravity of Earth, the Moon
would not significantly change the time of flight.

Answer: 132 Hours. or 5.5 Days.

Now, I have two questions for you:

#1.) If the rifle did fire off in space, would you see any smoke?

#2.) If you were 10 miles up in the atmosphere - say 50,000 ft.,
how fast must you be going, to be able to remain at that altitude,
and in which direction?

Your question makes reference to the Space Station as the point of firing the gun. In my answer above I did not use that as the platform from which the gun was fired because I do not have at my finger tips the approximate altitude of the Space Station though I know it is much more than 50,000 Ft. I also did not take into account the thin atmosphere which exists at 50,000 feet, or the pull backwards on the bullet by the gravity of Earth. These omissions were made simply to run the numbers and see what I came up with since I thought this was an interesting question. Now, having dispensed with the mundane aspects of my quick math, let's discuss the real problem with this question...

The Earth is spinning. The Moon is orbiting the Earth at a certain velocity, hence it is a moving target. The moving target is being shot at from a moving platform. If you have any hope of hitting the Moon with your bullet, you would have to fire at the place where the Moon will be 5.5 days from the time of firing your gun, not at where the Moon is now. To do that requires more math than a few simple divisions of distance and velocity. For example, the moon swings completely around the Earth at a radius of 238,900 miles in 27.3 Earth days. The circumfrence of that circle is Pi x D = 1,500,292 miles (assuming the orbit is a circle, which it is not). So, the velocity that the Moon is moving away from its present spot right this minute is 2,290 miles per hour. Since the Moon rises and sets on our horizon each night, you can see that in our calculation, the Moon would have passed overhead at least 5 times in 5.5 days. So your rifle would have to be pointed at the place you calculate the Moon should be at in 5.5 days.
Regards,
Zah

Answer 2

Actually, the gun will fire because gunpowder contains its own oxidizing agent and doesn't need air.
Your biggest problem is going to be the gravity of the earth which will start pulling on that bullet the moment it fires. It is going to be pulling on that bullet constantly until you reach a point where the moon's gravity becomes stronger than the earth's, and that is hundreds of thousands of kilometers. So the bullet will go slower and slower with each passing second due to the earth's gravity. So what you first need to do is add up all your velocities including the velocity you are moving when you fire the gun (after all you are in orbit). Then you need to determine what velocity you need the bullet to travel at (added to the velocity of the gun) to overpower the earth's gravity long enough to make it to the moon.

Answer 3

Technically you could if the earth was not here it would be much simpler of course. The muzzle speed of the french Fully automatic FAMAS is at about 850 kilometers an hour. You do the math please. You cannot shoot a gun from space unless you had an oxygen tank with you going directly to the bullet.

Answer 4

Hi. If you aim carefully at where the moon will be once the bullet reaches the height of the moon, and if the muzzle velocity is high enough (most are not) then, yes, you could hit the moon. The question depends on how fast the bullet is traveling.

Answer 5

Yes you could, however since you fire it from the ISS orbit it will have a velocity component in the direction of the ISS motion in addition to the forward bullet motion. Therefore you would need to calculate the trajectories using the gravity of the earth and the moon to find out when in the orbit of ISS and at which direction you need to shoot to put it to a lunar transfer trajectory.

Answer 6

A detailed calculation of the problem is mentioned in Joles Vern "Travel to moon" Good luck

Answer 7

It's not possible. In order for a gun to fire, you need an atmosphere of air for the materials to combust. Absent any air, the gun can't fire...so it would never work in outer space.

Answer 8

You would have to do your math and plan a trajectory to match orbits and velocity/distance, but yes, it's just a question of time.