The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) has released the video of Japanese astronaut Takao Doi experimenting with a special-designed boomerang at the International Space Station (ISS) in March 2008…
Conclusion… the boomerang reacted just the same under zero gravity as it would be on the ground. Aerodynamics expert David Caughey of Cornell said that the result is as expected; the looping paths are the result of uneven forces on the curved devices by the air they travel through… not the influence of gravity. [Newscientist]
The boomerang was working in the space station, but would not work in the real space though. Boomerang expert and designer Gary Broadbent said that a boomerang would not work in the vacuum of space, as air molecules are needed to generate the lift to make the boomerang turn. [Universetoday]
why are we spending billions for this kind of experiments? we can use the money to help the poor around the world.
This boomerang test is probably among hundreds of other experiments being carried out… some of those experiments might actually be useful for future.
Off course it would be great if more money could be donated to the poor, but life has to go on at the other side of the earth… we need continuous improvement in our life too. Helping the poor doesn’t mean that we should stop using handphones, cars and some luxury item isn’t so?