Re:The reality of celebratory gunfire
by kadoban on Friday September 30, 2022 @11:16AM
(#33036013)
> Would the absence of atmospheric friction result in a different outcome?
Yes.
> Also, I've heard you could fire a bullet on the Moon and it would be able to go into as low an orbit as a few 100 meters without ever hitting the ground. What's the minimal velocity for that to be plausible?
Note that low orbits on the Moon aren't stable. The Moon's gravity is lumpy due to its composition, so things that are low quickly become unstable and crash.
Yes.
> Also, I've heard you could fire a bullet on the Moon and it would be able to go into as low an orbit as a few 100 meters without ever hitting the ground. What's the minimal velocity for that to be plausible?
Apparently: 1679 m/s per https://www.quora.com/How-fast-must-an-object-be-moving-to-o... . The answer isn't very sensitive to height because the radius in the equation is from the center of the moon, so the answer will only change a tiny amount.
Note that low orbits on the Moon aren't stable. The Moon's gravity is lumpy due to its composition, so things that are low quickly become unstable and crash.