What happens if you throw something away from the ISS?

Question

What would happen if I were on the ISS and a heavy object was thrown out, like 100kg or 200kg, and it flew in the direction of the Earth

jaronimo274 · Answer

The object will probably hit the Earth at insane speed as the ISS orbits the Earth at over a thousand km/h

krabat693 · Answer

The force with which you throw the object away would ensure that it would be in a slightly different orbit and at some point when it approaches the ISS again, the ISS might have to make an evasive maneuver.

herrpepe · Answer

So just with your arms? The thing burns up after a few laps in Earth's atmosphere.

lordj200206 · Answer

It burns up and probably doesn't even come to Earth as a grain of sand

thomasjnewton · Answer

The object would continue to orbit the Earth in a slightly different orbit than the ISS. Paradoxically, it would be wider than the ISS's if you threw it forward, so it lays behind, and narrower than the ISS's if you threw it backward, so it overtakes. What would happen if you threw it up, down, left, or right, I could probably figure out by thinking, but not at this time of night.

hologence · Answer

Conservation of angular momentum applies. The object would continue to orbit the Earth, with a slightly elliptical orbit, deviating from the ISS's orbit.

reinkanation · Answer

The area will orbit the Earth for a few years and then eventually burn up

fanclub75 · Answer

The respective kinetic energy at the time of "dropping" will determine the further course of events.

Initially, every object on the ISS moves at the same speed (approximately 28,000 km/h) in Earth's orbit.

Now you exert an impulse on this object, which in zero gravity affects both components, depending on their respective masses, unless one is fixed. Assuming you're holding onto a handle, your object will move away from the ISS at the speed with which you "threw" it.

It will slowly spin away and remain nearby for months or years until its secondary kinetic energy is used up. Since residual atmosphere still exists at this altitude, which very slowly decelerates all objects in orbit, at some point the point will be reached where a crash will be initiated.

nematode · Answer

At an altitude of about 400 km? Yes, maybe in 20 years. Anyone who has no idea should...

dompfeifer · Answer

This is by no means possible with muscle power. Accelerating the massive body toward Earth would require a powerful rocket. After manually removing the body from the ISS, it would simply fly alongside the ISS, almost on the same trajectory.