Boomerang returns, even in space

[Asmodai]

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2008/03/21/2196406.htm

Boomerang returns, even in space

Posted March 21, 2008 15:40:00

In an unprecedented experiment, a Japanese astronaut has thrown a boomerang in space and confirmed it flies back, much like on Earth.

Astronaut Takao Doi "threw a boomerang and saw it come back" during his free time on March 18 at the International Space Station (ISS), a spokeswoman at the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency said.

Mr Doi threw the boomerang after a request from compatriot Yasuhiro Togai, a world boomerang champion.

"I was very surprised and moved to see that it flew the same way it does on Earth," the Mainichi Shimbun daily quoted the 53-year-old astronaut as telling his wife in a chat from space.

The space agency said a videotape of the experiment would likely be released later.

Doi travelled on US shuttle Endeavour on the March 11 blast-off and successfully delivered the first piece of a Japanese laboratory to the ISS.

- AFP

So, can anyone explain to me how that works?

[StreakInTheSky]

hmm... I don't really know since I never really knew how a boomerang works, but here's my guess.

The shape of the boomerang and the way it spins causes it to have some kind of momentum that forces it to go around. So if that's right, then if the boomerang were to have a constant speed and rotation it could keep going around forever in an ideal environment? So in space the boomerang will probably work even better since there is no wind resistance and very low gravity.

I could probably just look all this up on wiki but I'm too lazy. My mind was already screwed from reading about the M-theory and string theory. x_X

[frblckstr1]

A boomerang returns because of the way it interacts with the air (shape and rotation)

He might have needed to throu it a bit different because of the absence of gravity, but the friction with the air is still there.