How much more localized can one get than the International Space Station, after all?
Japanese astronaut Takao Doi has thrown a boomerang in space and found, to the surprise of many, that it does come back.
Doi tested the boomerang in an American experimental module on the ISS, using a paper boomerang made by world boomerang-throwing champion Yasuhiro Togai. It was not immediately clear how the boomerang actually flew, but a photograph suggested that Doi had thrown it vertically, and it had returned to his hand. "It flew just like on Earth," Doi said.
It had been thought that gravity was necessary for a boomerang to return, and many people had expected that the boomerang would fly upwards if it was released in space. |