Hi! Yes! That part was really cool! And errr, yes warning for those who have not yet seen the
Hi! Yes! That part was really cool! And errr, yes warning for those who have not yet seen the movie, the following will contain plot details, so a fair *SPOILER WARNING* So, for a little bit of background, the Endeavor (the rotating mother ship) spins in order to induce gravity. It’s a widely used concept in science fiction and is applied to the “Cooper Station” placed near Saturn at the end of the movie. It’s a design that is also known as the O'Neill Cylinder. The centrifugal force of the rotation induce Earth-like gravity that allows the astronauts to walk around. When Cooper was trying to dock with this craft, he told one of the robots–Tars or Case, I don’t remember which to analyze the rotation of Endeavor and HE will spin his ship to match that rotation PERFECTLY. I wouldn’t hesitate to think that this was absolutely possible if the docking procedure and protocol was calculated by Tars/Case. And of course it also has to do with Cooper’s extensive experience as a pilot. The whole notion was risky, but not impossible. The issue that I had with that was the debris. When the Endeavor broke up because of Dr. Mann, the pieces will fall off, but they’re still also spinning/moving at the same rate as the Endeavor. If Cooper matched the rotation beforehand and then entered the debris field for docking, then perhaps it’s possible–he can tiptoe his way into the docking area, hitting a few things a long the way won’t be an issue. But if he was already too close to the Endeavor before matching the rotation speed, I shutter to think what would have happened with all that debris flying around in circles and falling in towards the planet. The ship would have taken too much damage and the whole thing would have blown up into pieces. But it didn’t, phew! And yes, with enough power, once docked, the ship should be able to lift Endeavor out of the planet’s gravity. -- source link
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