History Main / ImprovisedMicrogravityManeuvering

* ''Film/{{Moontrap}}'' (1989). Grant and Mera are waiting to die on the Kaalium spaceship after activating the bomb. Then Grant fires at a Kaalium pod that's activated and the recoil of his gun blasts him in the opposite direction, giving him a EurekaMoment on how they can reach a nearby space shuttle.

%%* Spike Spiegel from ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' uses the recoil from a pistol in such a fashion in "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession7HeavyMetalQueen Heavy Metal Queen]]". %%Example needs context to make sense on its own - "In such a fashion" doesn't say anything on its own.

%%* The radio operator from ''Literature/TalesOfPirxThePilot'' has a habit of just tossing whatever junk he happens to have in his pockets, without regard for other crewmembers' safety. This does not make him popular. %%...Example doesn't say anything about this junk being used as a reaction mass.

* At the conclusion of ''Manga/JojosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'', [[spoiler: Kars created air jets on his body to give him a bit of impulse in an attempt to reenter the Earth's atmosphere after being launched into space by a volcano. However, it failed: the pressure release from the air jets caused them to become cold enough to completely freeze over, and his trajectory didn't change much.]]

* When the ''Comicbook/FantasticFour'' were stuck in space thanks to the Baxter Building being launched into space (and then blown up) Reed Richards had Sue, who was keeping them all alive with her forcefield, open up a very small hole in said field. It let a little of their air out, but very slowly--and helped them get back to terra firma.

* ''Literature/TheExpanse'': In ''Nemesis Games'', Naomi uses [[LosingAShoeInTheStruggle her one remaining shoe]] as a reaction mass to move around in freefall [[spoiler:after escaping her captors' spaceship without a spacesuit]].

* At the conclusion of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'', [[spoiler: Kars created air jets on his body to give him a bit of impulse in an attempt to reenter the Earth's atmosphere after being launched into space by a volcano. However, it failed: the pressure release from the air jets caused them to become cold enough to completely freeze over, and his trajectory didn't change much.]]

* In ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'' episode "Helping Hand", an astronaut is adrift in space, so she removes her glove and [[LawOfInverseRecoil throws it in the opposite direction]] to propel herself back towards her spaceship. Her hand [[SpaceIsCold freezes up in less than a minute]], so when she misses her chance to grab the spaceship [[LifeOrLimbDecision she breaks off the frozen arm]] and throws it away as well.

* In ''WesternAnimation/TitanAE'', during the first escape sequence from the Drej, Captain Korso shoots the artificial gravity module, then uses recoil from his pistol to propel himself away. Later, after escaping the space station and finding themselves adrift in vacuum, he and Cale use a fire extinguisher to maneuver back to their ship.

* During the climax of ''[[Literature/AlexRider Ark Angel]]'', Alex finds himself unable to reach anything while floating around on a space station, and resorts to taking his shoes off and throwing them.
* One ''Literature/{{Bolo}}'' short story had a Bolo use the recoil from its Hellbore as a propulsion unit.
* In ''Literature/CChute'' aliens have captured an Earth spaceship, so one character has to exit the ship via the eponymous chute and make his way in a spacesuit around the outside of the hull to the bridge. There's a danger he will be thrown free if the maneuvering nozzles fire while he's doing this, so he takes an extra oxygen tank with a regulator valve in case it's needed for this trope. [[ChekhovsGun He turns out using it as an]] ImprovisedWeapon instead.
* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator'', said elevator finds its way into orbit with Charlie and his family inside. They try swimming at first, then Mr. Wonka suggests they try blowing in order to jet themselves about.
* In Creator/JackMcDevitt's ''Literature/{{Chindi}}'', the protagonists have to catch an alien ship that's traveling faster than any human ship can, so they strap a ship to a huge boulder (small asteroid), and then release it ''in hyperspace'', which gives them just the boost they need.
* In ''Literature/TheExpanse'' novel ''Nemesis Games'', Naomi uses [[LosingAShoeInTheStruggle her one remaining shoe]] as a reaction mass to move around in freefall [[spoiler:after escaping her captors' spaceship without a spacesuit]].

* In Creator/LarryNiven's novel ''Literature/TheIntegralTrees'', the tree-dwellers occasionally use high pressure "spitter" seedpods (that shoot seeds out once they are broken open on one end) as rocket motors.

%%* The radio operator from ''[[Literature/TalesOfPirxThePilot Pirx's Tale]]'' has a habit of just tossing whatever junk he happens to have in his pockets, without regard for other crewmembers' safety. This does not make him popular. %%...Example doesn't say anything about this junk being used as a reaction mass.

* In the Donald A. Wollheim juvenile "The Secret of Saturn's Rings" not only does young Bruce Rhodes cross the Cassini Division from his wrecked spacecraft to where his father is stranded with nothing but a tank of helium, he finishes up his journey by JUMPING from ring particle to ring particle.

* Spike Spiegel from ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' uses the recoil from a pistol in such a fashion in "[[Recap/CowboyBebopSession7HeavyMetalQueen Heavy Metal Queen]]".

* At the conclusion of ''Manga/JoJosBizarreAdventureBattleTendency'', [[spoiler: Kars attempted to do this in order to reenter the Earth's atmosphere after being launched into space by a volcano, and created air jets on his body to give him a bit of impulse. However, it failed: the pressure release from the air jets caused them to become cold enough to completely freeze over, and his trajectory didn't change much.]]

* ''ComicBook/PowerPack'' has a variation--though not done in space, Alex manages to push himself around while degravitized using just about anything he can find with a spray nozzle, though he gets the most mileage out of a fire extinguisher.

* In-atmosphere example: Russell from the movie ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' used a leafblower to propel himself while he was "technically" weightless, having several balloons tied to him.

* ''Film/InLikeFlint''. Derek Flint uses a "sonic amplifier" to maneuver in space. Did I mention he's IN SPACE, which is a vacuum?

* The radio operator from ''[[Literature/TalesOfPirxThePilot Pirx's Tale]]'' has a habit of just tossing whatever junk he happens to have in his pockets, without regard for other crewmembers' safety. This does not make him popular.

* ''TabletopGame/{{Selfish}}'' is built around this trope -- each player is an astronaut stranded in space after a catastrophic crash, and only the first one to evade the floating wreckage and get back to the escape pod can survive. You have to decide whether to save your [[AlmostOutOfOxygen limited oxygen supply]] to keep yourself alive, or vent some of it to get a crucial speed boost past your erstwhile shipmates.
[[/folder]]

* Players in ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13'' may sometimes be forced to do this. They have a tendency to fail.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}},'' Sam had difficulty maneuvering when he first went into space, but he came up with two solutions involving [[DuctTapeForEverything duct tape.]] First, Florence gave him a stick for pushing off of surfaces, with duct tape wrapped arpund the ends to cushion any impact and prevent damage to the ship. Later, when he was caught without his stick, he resorted to wrapping duct tape around his hands with the sticky side facing out in order to climb along walls.

* Used in ''Webcomic/NinePlanetsWithoutIntelligentLife'', after an accidental ejection from a car. [[http://www.bohemiandrive.com/comics/npwil/47.html It will take a while]].

* ''WesternAnimation/BlackDynamite'' did this in one episode after America's Most Loved Black Man, [=O.J. Simpson=], tricked him into going into space. His rocket exploded and he had to get himself to an abandoned Soviet space station, so he fired his [[HandCannon big-ass revolver]] in the opposite direction.

* ''WesternAnimation/LoveDeathAndRobots'' has a gruesome version of this trope. In "Helping Hand", an astronaut is adrift in space, so she removes her glove and [[LawOfInverseRecoil throws it in the opposite direction]] to propel herself back towards her spaceship. Her hand [[SpaceIsCold freezes up in less than a minute]], so when she misses her chance to grab the spaceship [[LifeOrLimbDecision she breaks off the frozen arm]] and throws it away as well.
* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Perry the Platypus used two aerosol spray cans like this once, to get out of a pit.

* One hypothesized way to do this, if you're in a sufficiently curved space-time, is to [[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/299/5614/1865 swim]]! Unfortunately, it is almost unimaginably slow.

* Might be a good idea to prepare yourself to do a lot of spitting, peeing and possibly amputating.

* Spike Spiegel from ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' once used the recoil from a pistol in such a fashion.

GasCylinderRocket is a sister trope that's not confined to space. Often used to escape DramaticSpaceDrifting.

* One hypothesized way to do this, if you're in a sufficiently curved space time, is to [[http://www.sciencemag.org/content/299/5614/1865 swim]]! Unfortunately, it is almost unimaginably slow.

* When the Comicbook/FantasticFour were stuck in space thanks to the Baxter Building being launched into space (and then blown up) Reed Richards had Sue, who was keeping them all alive with her forcefield, open up a very small hole in said field. It let a little of their air out, but very slowly--and helped them get back to terra firma.

[[folder:Films -- Animation]]

* In one of the signature scenes of ''WesternAnimation/WallE'', Wall-E and Eve "dance" through space ouside the ''Axiom''. Wall-E uses a fire extinguisher, while Eve can propel herself.

[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]

* In ''Film/TwoThousandOneASpaceOdyssey'', Dave Bowman uses the explosive decompression of the air inside his travel pod to return to the Discovery's airlock.
* In ''Film/DestinationMoon'', one astronaut turns an oxygen tank into an improvised thruster jet to rescue an adrift crewmate.

* ''Film/{{Gravity}}''. A fire breaks out on the International Space Station, and when Ryan Stone tries to extinguish it the thrust of the extinguisher [[GasCylinderRocket slams her against the bulkhead]], knocking her unconscious for a moment. This becomes a ChekhovsGun when she later uses the extinguisher to maneuver herself to another space station. And when the charge in THAT runs out, she flings it away to propel herself the few precious inches needed to grasp her objective.
* Used twice in the climax of ''Film/TheMartian''. [[spoiler:Once by the Hermes when it blows out an airlock door to slow down enough to intercept the MAV,]] and then [[spoiler:by Watney when he pokes a hole in his suit glove to accelerate to Lewis' position when her own safety line won't reach him.]] In the book, the second use was suggested, but ended up not being necessary.
* In ''Film/Passengers2016'', Jim finds himself floating away while holding a piece of heat shield he doesn't need any more. He throws it away from him, hard, as a one-off effort to change direction.

* In the Creator/IsaacAsimov short story "Marooned Off Vesta", the characters maneuvered by cutting a hole in a water tank and using the escaping water as thrusting mass.
** In his story ''Literature/CChute'' aliens have captured an Earth spaceship, so one character has to exit the ship via the eponymous chute and make his way in a spacesuit around the outside of the hull to the bridge. There's a danger he will be thrown free if the maneuvering nozzles fire while he's doing this, so he takes an extra oxygen tank with a regulator valve in case it's needed for this trope. [[ChekhovsGun He turns out using it as an]] ImprovisedWeapon instead.
* In Creator/PoulAnderson's short novel ''The Makeshift Rocket'' (also known as ''A Bicycle Built for Brew''), the hero used a goofball contraption consisting of a spacesuit, several lashed-together crates, and a rocket motor that uses the gas from agitated beer barrels for propulsion.
* Creator/ArthurCClarke's novel ''The Sands of Mars'' featured an astronaut who once managed to stop and get stuck in the middle of a room. He eventually started throwing clothing the opposite way. That and a very badly timed VIP tour explain why he's [[ReassignedToAntarctica stuck in the space boonies]] during the events of the novel.

* In the ''Literature/GaeaTrilogy'', while not in space, the hub of Gaea is basically in zero gee. To escape from it near the end of ''Wizard'', Cirroco throws every object she was carrying in the opposite direction -- and curses herself for throwing her gun without firing its ammo first. [[spoiler:It's a good thing she didn't, though, because at the end of her ride she's headed toward the ground too fast.]]

* In Creator/LarryNiven's novel ''Literature/TheIntegralTrees'', the tree-dwellers occasionally use high pressure "spitter" seedpods (that shoot seeds out once they are broken open on one end) as rocket motors.

* In ''Literature/CharlieAndTheGreatGlassElevator'', said elevator finds its way into orbit with Charlie and his family inside. They try swimming at first, then Mr. Wonka suggests they try blowing in order to jet themselves about.
* In "Equipment", a short story accompanying the novel ''Literature/{{Shatterpoint}}'', a number of Republic troops find themselves adrift in space after their DropShip is shot down trying to reach the planet below. Harassed by enemy fighters, they have to fight back with what they have, and some of the drop troops use their repulsor-driven {{Jet Pack}}s as propulsion.
* In the Donald A. Wollheim juvenile "The Secret of Saturn's Rings" not only does young Bruce Rhodes cross the Cassini Division from his wrecked spacecraft to where his father is stranded with nothing but a tank of helium, he finishes up his journey by JUMPING from ring particle to ring particle.

* In the pilot for ''Series/ComeBackMrsNoah'', Mrs. Noah finds herself adrift in zero gravity and is told that [[ThatCameOutWrong releasing gas]] will get her moving, which she does by spritzing her perfume sprayer.
* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Cause and Effect" the Enterprise is stuck in a time loop, with no engines, on a collision course with another ship. One of the suggestions each time is to vent the shuttle bay to push the ship out of the way. [[spoiler:This is the suggestion that ends up working when they finally try it.]]

* In ''VideoGame/NetHack'', you can propel yourself backward while floating by throwing an item.

* Players in ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13'' may sometimes be forced to do this. They have a tendency to fail.

[[folder:Web Comics]]

* ''WesternAnimation/PhineasAndFerb'': Perry the Platypus used two aerosol spray cans like this once, to get out of a pit.
* One episode of ''WesternAnimation/RescueHeroes'' had one of the characters vent the air from his spacesuit's backup oxygen tank.

* In the pilot for ''Series/ComeBackMrsNoah'', Mrs Noah maneuvers in Zero G by spritzing her perfume sprayer. There's a DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything gag when she's first told that [[{{Gasshole}} releasing gas]] will do the trick.

* In the pilot for ''Series/ComeBackMrsNoah'', Mrs Noah maneuvers in Zero G by spritzing her perfume sprayer.

A form of MacGyvering where the hero creates thrust to push him/herself through the microgravity of space with something other than a designated-purpose thruster. Of course, since there's no air resistance in the vacuum of space, almost anything will do. Thank you, Newton's Third Law!

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Cause and Effect" the Enterprise is stuck in a time loop, with no engines, on a collision course with another ship. One of the suggestions each time is to vent the shuttle bay to push the ship out of the way. ([[spoiler:This is the suggestion that ends up working when they finally try it.]])

* Some ''Comicbook/MarvelStarWars'' comics have firing blasters as propulsion.

* In ''Film/{{Passengers}}'', Jim finds himself floating in the wrong direction while holding a piece of heat shield he doesn't need any more. He throws it away from him, hard, as a one-off effort to change direction.

* In ''Webcomic/{{Freefall}},'' Sam had difficulty maneuvering when he first went into space, but he came up with two solutions involving [[DuctTapeForEverything duct tape.]] First, Florence gave him a stick with duct tape wrapped around the ends for pushing off of surfaces. Later, when he was caught without his stick, he resorted to wrapping duct tape around his hands to climb along walls.

** In his story ''Literature/CChute'' aliens have captured an Earth spaceship, so one character has to exit to hull in a spacesuit made make his way around the outside of the hull to the bridge. There's a danger he will be thrown free, so he takes an extra oxygen tank with a regulator valve in case its needed for this trope. [[ChekhovsGun He turns out using it as an]] ImprovisedWeapon instead.