Astronaut Uses Single Strand of Hair to Move Around in Zero Gravity

It doesn't take much of a push to get around in space, as NASA astronaut Karen Nyberg recently demonstrated aboard the International Space Station.

In a video to describe the effects of weightlessness, Nyberg used a single strand of her own hair to propel herself, tumbling slowly backward after pushing off a blue handrail on the orbiting lab. The brief experiment, which NASA posted online last week, was inspired by a conversation fellow astronaut Cady Coleman had with Sandra Bullock, star of the blockbuster space thriller Gravity.

Coleman helped Bullock prepare for her role as an astronaut in the film, which opened Oct. 4. Bullock said she was particularly struck by Coleman's description of how effortlessly spaceflyers can float around the orbiting lab. Read more...