• Geek_King@lemmy.world
      link
      fedilink
      arrow-up
      40
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      4 months ago

      With the Earth’s elliptical orbit, momentum would only get you so far in terms of sticking with the planet.

      • funkless_eck@sh.itjust.works
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        36
        arrow-down
        1
        ·
        edit-2
        4 months ago

        relative to the galactic central point, per Eric Idle, the earth would be 200k/125 miles away in a single second, or relative to everything in the universe / background radiation, it would be 23,000 miles (37,000 km) away in a single second.

        Preserving momentum in different directions and you quickly double it

        Assuming an even rate of death, that’s just under 2 people dying per second currently, so you wouldn’t even be able to see the people who died before or after you if you retained human senses as a ghost.

      • LostXOR@fedia.io
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        15
        ·
        4 months ago

        Even with a circular orbit, if you’re unbound by gravity you’ll follow a straight path while the Earth curves, resulting in it appearing to accelerate away from you.

      • LibertyLizard@slrpnk.net
        link
        fedilink
        arrow-up
        1
        ·
        4 months ago

        Yeah they would go flying off into space relative to earth but I was more referring to the idea that they’d somehow become stationary due to being immune to gravity. That wouldn’t be sufficient on its own.