00:00:00
As climate change, scarce resources, and ever-advancing
military technology push the boundaries of
00:00:05
humans towards deadlier and protracted conflicts,
they look to other domains to gain a competitive
00:00:11
edge.
00:00:12
With the world devastated by years of war
and depleted of most of its natural resources,
00:00:16
the global powers have turned space into its
final battlefront.
00:00:19
While these battles have not reached the point
of firing lasers and other nifty space gadgets
00:00:24
like from an unnamed popular science fiction
franchise, at this point in the future, due
00:00:29
in no small part to Dogecoin billionaires,
outfitting large armies of space soldiers
00:00:34
has become possible.
00:00:35
While there are many possibilities for this
war to be fought in space, let's look at the
00:00:39
first and most likely battlefield: the Moon.
00:00:41
However, before we can even begin to see how
this battle would play out, we first need
00:00:45
to tackle the major question of if a gun can
even be fired in space.
00:00:50
When you pull the trigger of any gun, a firing
pin strikes the primer that ignites the powder
00:00:54
inside the cartridge.
00:00:56
These expanding gases force the bullet out
of its casing and propel it down the barrel.
00:01:00
While there are quite literally hundreds of
different powder combinations used throughout
00:01:04
the centuries, one of the basic physics principles
that remains constant though is the ability
00:01:08
of the powders to combust.
00:01:10
For that to happen there must be air.
00:01:12
Now, I know what you are thinking- there is
no air in space so you cannot fire a gun in
00:01:17
a vacuum.
00:01:18
But you see if you thought that you would
be sorely mistaken.
00:01:21
Inside each cartridge, you would find that
the tiny amount of oxygen contained in each
00:01:25
air-tight and self-contained cartridge would
still allow the gun to be fired.
00:01:29
However, once you do fire that gun in space
that is where the otherworldly physics starts
00:01:33
to take place.
00:01:34
Firstly, no matter where you fire a gun in
space you would not hear it, since there is
00:01:39
not a medium like air or water for sound to
travel.
00:01:42
However, you would still hear a small yet
very altered sound due to the small vibrations
00:01:47
firing the gun would have in your ear drum.
00:01:49
But when other people shoot a gun, because
the sound vibrations cannot travel, you would
00:01:53
not hear them so if you forget to bring that
hearing protection with you on your spaceship
00:01:57
do not fear since it would not make a difference
anyway.
00:02:00
Once the bullet leaves the barrel of the gun,
gravity starts to take effect immediately.
00:02:03
That is why when you fire a bullet it will
eventually drop to the ground.
00:02:07
However, on the moon, gravity is one-sixth
the strength of the gravity on earth and this
00:02:11
would make for some very interesting dynamics.
00:02:14
Taking a look at three of the most common
military cartridges, one can see how the ranges
00:02:18
at which firefights can take place in space
become exponentially increased.
00:02:22
The standard-issue pistol round for the US
is 9mm, the standard rifle round is 5.56 mm,
00:02:28
and the standard machine gun round is the
7.62mm cartridge.
00:02:32
These rounds will travel a maximum of 1900,
3400, and 4500 yards respectively.
00:02:37
While their effective ranges are much shorter
than these, these are the maximum ranges that
00:02:41
when fired on a completely flat plain, gravity
will eventually pull them down into the ground.
00:02:46
Because the moon’s gravity is one-sixth
the strength of the gravity on earth, that
00:02:50
means you could multiply these distances by
a factor of almost 2.5 times greater!
00:02:55
So that means for a 9mm pistol, a space cadet
could fire a 9mm bullet up to almost 4700
00:03:00
yards, snipe at an enemy with his rifle at
almost 8300 yards, and suppress their positions
00:03:05
with machine-gun fire at 11000 yards!
00:03:08
Surely these numbers are all theoretical since
the military, at least publically, has never
00:03:12
tested its weapons in space.
00:03:15
But if we are going off just the straight
math then it should work out this way.
00:03:18
Of course, these numbers are just the maximum
range and do not factor in things like the
00:03:22
ability to aim or the fact that the visible
horizon for the human eye is around 11 nautical
00:03:27
miles or about 22000 yards, so shooting at
a target over the horizon would be impractical
00:03:33
for the average space soldier.
00:03:34
Or would it be?
00:03:36
You see, space does some weird things and
one of those is the pull of a gravitational
00:03:39
field.
00:03:40
Unlike on earth where the atmosphere is tens
of thousands of meters up, if you are already
00:03:45
in space or on an astral body with a limited
atmosphere like the moon, or a very strong
00:03:49
atmosphere like say, Jupiter, then bullets
can easily get sucked into these atmospheres.
00:03:53
As one scientist described it, if you wanted
to shoot yourself on the moon you would simply
00:03:57
need to stand on a mountain at least 1600
meters up and then fire straight ahead.
00:04:01
Now, granted the bullet would have to not
impact any other mountains or debris but by
00:04:05
doing this the bullet could eventually circumnavigate
the moon and come back to hit its hapless
00:04:10
shooter, eventually.
00:04:12
If you fired your gun while in the void of
space, it also has some weird physics that
00:04:15
would go on.
00:04:16
One of those would be its ability to keep
moving forever, at least sort of.
00:04:20
You see, as discussed previously space being
a vacuum, if there were no forces such as
00:04:25
gravity, wind, or weather that could impact
a bullet’s path and sap its energy, it would
00:04:29
go on forever.
00:04:30
In an ideal scenario, this would be the case.
00:04:32
However, the likelihood of your bullet traveling
forever in the cosmos with no other forces
00:04:36
acting on it would be next to nothing due
to all the planetary bodies acting on it.
00:04:40
Going back to our earlier example of firing
a gun at a planet, if during your lunar firefight
00:04:45
you happen to miss your target and the bullet
eventually makes its way towards say, Jupiter,
00:04:49
you could count on its strong gravitational
pull to suck in your bullet.
00:04:52
At about three times the strength of the earth's
gravitational pull, you could expect that
00:04:56
even at distances up to tens of thousands
of meters away the bullet would feel the effect
00:05:01
of its gravity and eventually get sucked into
orbit.
00:05:04
Here, after getting trapped in orbit, the
bullet could expect to travel at speeds of
00:05:07
more than 17000 miles per hour!
00:05:09
That is because the speed of objects in orbit
is dependent upon their mass, gravity, and
00:05:14
altitude among a few other factors.
00:05:16
While this would change from planet to planet,
one would see the velocities of these bullets
00:05:20
increase in magnitudes of ten or more when
placed in such scenarios.
00:05:24
Another interesting aspect of firing guns
in space is just how hot or how cold they
00:05:28
would be when impacting a target.
00:05:31
On earth, heat is transferred through a variety
of radiation, convection, and conduction,
00:05:35
which gives bullets, though hot, a more graduated
temperature to its environment than space.
00:05:40
In space, heat only exists as radiation.
00:05:42
So if your bullet travels through say a patch
of solar wind, it would instantly be melted
00:05:47
since the melting point of lead is around
320 degrees Celsius while solar wind can reach
00:05:51
temperatures of a million degrees Celsius!
00:05:54
However, all of these data points and figures
revolve around firearms that are currently
00:05:58
used on Earth that are repurposed for space
use.
00:06:01
After all, if the human race were ever to
fight a war in space then it is probably safe
00:06:04
to assume that the gun designs would also
have to be upgraded.
00:06:08
But what exactly would the ideal gun in space
look like and be made out of to operate in
00:06:12
such a harsh environment?
00:06:14
First of all, that space assault rifle or
pistol with wooden grips would probably best
00:06:18
be left back at home.
00:06:19
The obvious reason for this is that you should
not bring highly flammable things into space
00:06:23
as due to the intense amount of heat that
can be present, a material like wood would
00:06:27
instantly catch on fire if exposed to such
extreme temperatures.
00:06:30
Additionally, the water inside wood would
expand and evaporate inside a vacuum.
00:06:35
What that means for our hapless space warrior
is that potentially in the middle of the action
00:06:39
their gun could literally start falling apart
with the screws and anything else banding
00:06:42
the stock to the gun coming apart.
00:06:45
But what about the material that makes up
the gun itself?
00:06:47
Though many people might suggest Tungsten,
as it has the highest melting point of any
00:06:51
naturally occurring metal yet is still malleable
enough to be bent into shape, you might be
00:06:55
mistaken.
00:06:56
Rhenium is probably the best metal to make
guns out of that would fire in space for a
00:07:00
few reasons.
00:07:02
Firstly, it is still the second highest heat
resistant metal known to humankind.
00:07:06
It also has strong electrical resistance properties
in space, which is great since everything
00:07:10
that goes into space has to be able to dissipate
electrostatic charges that are everywhere
00:07:14
up there.
00:07:15
It is commonly used in the construction of
aircraft so it already has a good track record
00:07:19
of good performance in harsh environments.
00:07:21
Though people might point out that Tungsten
has also been used in a number of high speed
00:07:25
and highly successful jet aircraft programs
in both the US, Russia, and elsewhere, they
00:07:30
would be correct.
00:07:31
However, though Tungsten does have a slight
edge over Rhenium in melting point, the metal
00:07:35
still beats it out in areas of ductility,
electrical resistance, and creep resistance.
00:07:39
Despite these advantages, Rhenium is usually
combined with Tungsten to make an alloy to
00:07:43
get the best properties of both and it is
this combination that might actually make
00:07:47
the best material to manufacture firearms
out of for space combat.
00:07:52
But what about the bullets that are fired?
00:07:54
After all, these bullets would have to survive
their flight to their target through potentially
00:07:58
much more extreme temperatures and conditions
due to the increased distances that space
00:08:02
combat can occur at.
00:08:03
The answer to this problem might actually
be an experimental alloy that was designed
00:08:07
in 2015 that, to this date, has the highest
melting point of any experimental or natural
00:08:12
substance discovered so far.
00:08:14
The alloy that was created was a combination
of three elements: hafnium, tantalum, and
00:08:18
carbon.
00:08:19
The resulting concoction allowed for a blistering
melting point of about 7500 degrees Fahrenheit
00:08:24
or about two-thirds the surface temperature
of the sun!
00:08:27
Such a metal would be perfect to use for space
combat since they could handle almost everything
00:08:31
space could throw at them save for maybe solar
wind and a black hole.
00:08:35
Though this experimental alloy is still being
developed at the University of California,
00:08:39
there is real hope that it could be used in
military applications in the future since
00:08:42
a good portion of the funding for this research
has come from the US Navy.
00:08:46
Despite this influx of cash from Uncle Sam,
the last report from 2015 was that scientists
00:08:51
were only able to make 100 grams of the material
so it is unlikely such bullets would be available
00:08:56
anytime soon.
00:08:58
Overall, while firing guns in space might
seem like a commander's dream with the increased
00:09:02
ranges and zero noise, when one factors in
all the harsh realities of space, firing guns
00:09:06
might not be as simple as one might think.
00:09:09
But who knows, maybe by the time humans actually
start fighting space battles guns might be
00:09:12
obsolete anyways!
