If somebody went on a space-walk upon working on the space station, a very loose example, and then became detached from the station, i.e. floating freely in space, would it be possible for the person to move themselves closer to the Earth or actually re-enter the Earth's atmosphere by some sort of swimming motion, for want of a better expression?

jmbaker1021

Well look at it this way...inside the atmosphere (on the ground), there are millions of air particles that cause resistance. If you were free falling from a plane, a swimming motion might get you somewhere because you are pushing against those air particles. In the vaccum of space, there is no air (veeeerrry few air particles in the orbit of earth), so performing the swimming motion would get you nowhere. The gravitational attraction of the earth would eventually pull you into the atmosphere, but it would take a long long time. Thanks to SAFER, astronauts do not have to worry about that. Check this link out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Simplified_Aid_for_EVA_Rescue Jun 24 09, 5:28 PM

queproblema

He would desperately want to avoid that since he would become a human meteor. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Atmospheric_reentry Jun 24 09, 6:34 PM

davejacobs

If he did eventually reenter the atmosphere, it would not be because of the earth's gravity, which is what keeps bodies orbiting rather than shooting off into space. What would bring him in (and what happens to other space debris) is the existence of those very few air particles, which exert a minute drag down to a lower orbit. http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_can_an_atmospheric_drag_affect_am_orbit Jun 25 09, 1:40 AM