During the STS-123 mission to the International Space Station in March 2008 Japanese astronaut Takeo Doi tested a special boomerang in space to see how it worked in the microgravity environment of the ISS. The boomerang used in the experiment was a â€œRoomerang,â€ a small, tri-blade boomerang intended for use indoors in a small area or outdoors in light winds. IT was designed by boomerang expert Gary Broadbent, and it travels 5 to 8 feet before returning to the thrower.

The Japanese Space Agency has now released the video of the event:





As you can see, it worked very well, even in the small space of the ISS module. Broadbent told Universe Today that in the pressurized environment of the ISS, â€œmicrogravity has very little effect on the boomerang flight. The boomerang is so versatile, it can be tuned to fly in a perfect path back to the thrower, with gyroscopic precession and angular momentum over-compensating the lack of gravity.â€

But Broadbent also said that a boomerang would not work in the vacuum of space. â€œYou need air molecules to generate the lift to make the boomerang turn,â€ he said.

Here’s our earlier article about the boomerang experiment.

Original News Source: You Tube