if a bird flapped it wings in space would it move.?

Question

would it?

Answer 1

not alot of info out there.
but I know theres been alot of experiments done before

here's and image of a Japaneses quail floating in space.
http://www.space.savba.sk/COSPAR7.jpg

If there's oxygen on the ship and in its air, then yes, the bird should be able to fly, BUT I think the "sensation" of no gravity is much more powerful and confuses the bird, making it feel like it is constantly falling.


birds tend to stick their wings out in the "air" and hold them there with a slight twist in their spine and a cocked head.

reptiles tend to grab anything (looking for a branch to catch as they think they're falling)

Lizards grab their own tails and won't let go.

snakes grab themselves by the tail and make a floating cirlce

http://www.americanscientist.org/template/AssetDetail/assetid/14316/page/4;jsessionid=aaa5LVF0

Answer 2

Disregarding all of the above about the bird surviving (no oxygen, vacuum of space, etc), the bird knowing it was flying (due to no gravity) and all other things that would confuse/kill the bird, yes the bird would move but in a number of entirely differing ways, with only two of these ways due to the movement of the wings.

Firstly, in accordance with Newtons third law every action has an equal and opposite reaction, so the bird moving the mass of it's wings upwards will cause the bird to move downward but this movement will will stop at some point, so as the wing reaches the top of it movement and stops the body stops moving downwards. The bird may move relative to itself, (i.e spin around) but the center of mass of the bird will remain in a fixed position i.e the wings are now higher than the bird and the body is slightly lower but is now not moving relative to the position it started in. If the process is reversed and the wing beats downwards returning to its orignal position the body of the bird will move up and the bird will find itself in exactly the same position it started in.

The second way it would move is by the wings hitting all of the tiny little particles/molecules/atoms that float about in space in exactly the same way that thay hit particles, atoms and molecules in our atmosphere. Even though space is a vacuum and people say this is nothing in it, there is, just not much. So once again according to Newtons third law the wings hitting these particles will produce movement and the imbalance in quantity of particles on either side of the wing will produce a movement in a unpredictable direction (i.e if there is a greater mass of matter above the wing than below the bird will move down). This movement will be very very small and it may take days/months/years to even move a small distance relative to the starting position.

Both of these disregard all other reasons for the movement of a body in space such as gravity, solar winds, sunlight etc.

In short, whilst a bird would not fly in the conventional manner in space, it would move.

Answer 3

for every action theres an equal but opposite reaction - newtons 3rd

therefore - assuming that the bird was alive - if it were to flap its wings in space, it would move.....but unless it only did a half flap - it would probably just wobble around the same general position (if it wasnt orbiting or already moving)

im curious as to how many people who have answered "no" hae any knowledge of physics and newtons laws. no air doesnt mean no movement. the flapping of the wings would cause the bird to have momentum in one direction or the other, therefore it doesnt matter if there is or isnt air...

i wonder what the spacesuit would be like........

Answer 4

In space vacuum, flapping will not move the bird.

I assume the bird is wearing some kind of a space suit.

Answer 5

Opinion on this board seems divided but lots of birds have been into space and have safely returned. I know of quite a few female space shuttle pilots.

Why not just ask one of those and put an end to the speculation?

Answer 6

Good Question, just as a space ship can move even though its thrusters are in a vacuum. The force is created from pushing against the ship itself.
I'm going to say YES but it wouldn't exactly fly, but would move.
Maybe to-and fro.

Answer 7

No. If somehow it was protected from the vacuum of space it could however move its wings, but like a fish out of water, flapping its tail getting nowhere.

Answer 8

Yes, but as it flaps back to its original posture, it will be in exactly the same place as it was originally.

Answer 9

It should move, just like a human in space. The problem is whether would it survive or not?

Answer 10

no
there is no air for the wings to push against aside from that the bird would die no air to breath and he would get the bends
[huge air bubbles in the blood]