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Empirical evidence for the spherical shape of Earth - Astronautics
The fault in our stars Pseudoastronomy |
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Adding epicycles |
Epicyclists |
Flat-Earthers have made several incorrect observations to claim the Earth is flat. This article refutes claims made by flat-Earthers about astronautics.
"But rockets do not have anything to push against in space!"[edit]
Claims Eric Dubay.
As the third Newton's law states: "If two bodies exert forces on each other, these forces have the same magnitude but opposite directions."
As can be seen here, it's enough to push something away from you to move forward. You don't have to push on solid mass. As can be seen in this video, ejecting gas at high speed works too.
"But the ISS should be melting in 2000°C thermosphere!"[edit]
Claims Eric Dubay. High temperature does not necessarily burn you. Boiling water burns you badly in less than a second. But the same temperature steam from a kettle won't burn you in one second. At the thermosphere, there are roughly a few billion atoms / ft³. At sea level, there are roughly 1024 air molecules / ft³, which is about 1,000,000,000,000,000 times more molecules. The temperature of those atoms in the thermosphere is roughly 1000 Kelvins. So yes, hot stuff, but an almost nonexistent amount of it. As per this Forbes article, "the outside of the ISS can reach temperatures as high as 250°F (121°C) on the sunny side and as low as -250°F (-157 °C) on the shady side." None of the metals Dubay listed melt at these temperatures.
See also[edit]
Empirical evidence for the spherical shape of Earth based on the observations of