Stranded in Space

- 5 -

It is possible to rotate my body a little at a time. This is the only positional change I can make. First, I stretch my arms and legs outward as far as I can, and turn my head to one side: the torso rotates a little in the opposite direction to the head. Then, I close my arms and legs, and turn my head to the other side. The torso will rotate back. And since the rotational moment is smaller than when the arms and legs are outstretched, this backward angle becomes larger, so that the whole body rotates a little. The principle is the same as when a cat falls down on its back. It turns its body in the air to land on its feet. I can rotate my body sideways by repeating this movement. Likewise, it's not very difficult (but may be slightly more awkward) to rotate vertically by stretching my arms upward and legs down ward, and flinging my head back a little; I then bend my arms and legs and straightening my head. But whichever way I rotate, I can't shift my location. I can't escape from the circumference of my outstretched arms and legs.

For more than an hour, I struggle to rotate in several different angles, only to realize that no part of my body ever touches any walls or pipes. The only hope is the spanner, which lies a few centimeters away from my toe. But this distance seems unreachable whichever way I rotate.

I stop and try to think. I check my suit to find if there's anything I can take off. Anything will work. If I throw it, my body will surely move in the opposite direction with the same speed as the thrown object, however slow it may be. I have an ample three hours remaining to reach the wall four meters away.