Is there no up or down in outer space?

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Is it true that there is no up or down in outer space? I've heard this many times.

Well if you are in space, and going up, what/where are you going up from, or to? There can't be an up or down if there's no reference point. I'm pretty sure when we refer to "up" and "down" we are talking about towards and away from the core of Earth. I.e., down is going with the gravitational pull, and up is going against it.

Last edited by yellowtamarin on 25 Jan 2013, 8:50 pm, edited 1 time in total.

I think so otherwise in Antarctica you'd appear to be walking upside down like if you were walking on the ceiling.

If you're an astronaut in a space ship crusing inter planetary space then there is no up or down because your floating wieghtless.

"Up" means against gravity, and down means falling towards the center of gravity. Thus on earth "up" is away from the center of the earth, and 'down' is towards the center of the earth.

So in space there is so planetary center as a point of reference.

When you land at your destination on mars then "up and down" reappear in reference to the center of Mars.

Ofcourse, as any sci fi fan knows, you can create artificial gravity by slowly spinning a large cylindrical space ship on its axis creating centripal force that pulls you towards the inside of the ship's outer walls. Do it right- and you could walk upright on the ships outer walls just like you're on earth. In that situation - down would be toward the ships walls- and up would be toward the ship's axis.You could jump straight up and then rise above the ships axis-and then start to fall "down" on your head on the other side of the ship.

"The enemy's gate is down."

But yes, "Up" and "Down" are directions that can only exist in the presence of a gravitational pull. No gravity, and no up/down.

I was going to say something like that, but there is gravitational pull in outer space as well. If you were floating around in our Solar System, for example, you could possibly argue that away from the Sun was "up", and towards it was "down". It gets a bit tricky though because objects in the Solar System don't just get pulled towards the Sun, they go into various orbits and such.

up/down has little to do with gravity or direction, and allto do with perception. Same goes for other things like speed

Up and down is purely relative to a point of reference.
What I find amusing is that star trek should know better. They treat space like a giant 2D space-scape, and ships travel over it. They can be floating above it like a helicopter above a car, but they don't fly into the, um, 'up' direction.
It is all very like motion over the surface of the Earth. Maybe earthlings have trouble with three dimensional space Maybe Einsteins fabric of space-time thing has embedded itself too much in our imaginations. Maybe the phrase 'fabric of space is flat' is being taken too literally? Maybe this is why we'll never solve the gravity mystery? Maybe I need to shut up and go get a cup of coffee now?

In "Star Trek:First Contact" there is a long scene where Picard and Worf are walking on the underside of the Enterprise's hull in space suits. The scene is first shown with them walking upside-down and then it's flipped over and shows them walking normally with the Enterprise upside-down to show there's no up/down in space.

The sound effects of things like the phasers being fired is inaccurate since there's no noise in space, but Star Trek would obviously be lame without any space sound effects.

I think I remember seeing that! Yes, that would be a step up from the usual. Don't get me wrong, I LOVE next gen. Data is my hero.
They explored a lot of concepts that I really appreciated. The 3D thing is something I didn't even notice until a couple of years ago. Just another mentally 2D human

Agree about the sound effects.

Can you say isotropic? Sure you can.

All directions in space far from gravitating masses are equal.

ruveyn

I learned about this in the 1980s! Lionel Richie had a song "Dancing on the Ceiling".

Wait a minute!

Aspie women LIKE Data (the TV character) ?!?!?!?!

I could act like a dorky android...for you!

Get yourself a joystick and play the classic Star Wars games, X-Wing or TIE Fighter... like any true space simulator, up/down loses all meaning... there's no horizon or ground for a constant reference point - you'll find yourself rolling your ship to make yourself parallel with large ships, etc... almost like a reference point for up/down is instinctual.

I may have said it first, but your version is far more spectacular. Props.