Question

You are still orbiting earth, as one of the astronauts on the International Space Station. In moving between compartments, you come to a complete stop and cannot reach any handholds. Describe several approaches you might take to get moving again, and use the principle of conservation of momentum to assess how well or poorly each approach would work. How will you finally get to your destination on the station?

Answer 1

Throwing arms and legs randomly won't help.

Because by law of conservation of momentum you would end up in the same place.

One way would be to blow out air real fast. As air will move fast in forward direction, your body will get a slight backward push. It will take a long time though, still theoretically possible.

Other way I would do is spin my whole body. As my center of mass won't be exactly at the center of rotational motion, I will experience a net centrifugal force. This force can be used to slowly approach the handle and finally to the destination.