# Can (human) gas propel someone in a contained space station? Tags: propulsion, microgravity, physics, life - Score: 11 - Views: 836 - Answers: 1 - Answered: yes - Asked by: Mikey (2961 rep) - Asked: 2016-10-22 - Site: space ## Question I am NOT trying to be lewd, but I had a student ask this. Yes, she may have been tongue-in-cheek, but I promised to answer her. And yes, I am trying to keep this as practical as possible. If and when someone passes gas while in a space station (contained environment in microgravity), would there be enough acceleration to push the person into another position? I don't need direct math, or even biology, but I'd like to return an answer to my student. My suspicion is, physically in a vacuum, yes of course, but on, say, the ISS, would it really direct you? I am not trying to be lewd, but genuinely want to know the magnitude of order of a fart within the confines of a habitable space station in microgravity to answer her question. If there is literature on it, that's great. I have great respect for the SE community: so please don't think I'm being silly; I'm happy to have this removed if you find it inappropriate; but I promised a space answer.

Is It Possible To Fart Your Way Across Space? # Is It Possible To Fart Your Way Across Space? By Eric Limer Published April 10, 2015, 11:35 am ET Don’t tell me you having thought about it. It’s only natural to think about the expulsion of your bodily gas as a rocket launch and then imagine what it’d be like in space. At least that’s why I tell myself. But could it actual propel you? Yes and no. As PBS’s Space Time explains, your farts could push you through the great abyss. They’d have to; it’s just physics. But even the most prolific farter would be hard pressed to toot their way to anywhere in less than several hundred years. The better solution? Peein’. So just keep that in mind the next time you’re floating just a few too many meters from the ISS and need to dodge a deadly cloud of space debris. And stay hydrated. [PBS Space Time]