History Main / ImprovisedMicrogravityManeuvering

** [[It is also possible https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dOzrKGVZ4Ig]] to make an escape the Mun with an EVA suit and an upturned rocket.

* ''VideoGame/KerbalSpaceProgram'': it's possible to shave off a few m/s by getting out of the craft and pushing with the EVA jetpack. It might mean the difference between being stranded in a highly eccentric orbit (from which rescue is hard) or dipping into the atmosphere and getting home.

* Used twice in the climax of ''Film/TheMartian''. [[spoiler:Once by the Hermes when it blows out an airlock door to slow down enough to intercept the MAV,]] and then [[spoiler:by Watney when he pokes a hole in his suit glove to accelerate to Lewis' position when her own safety line won't reach him.]]

* In the ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration'' episode "Cause and Effect" the Enterprise is stuck in a time loop while everyone tries to figure out a way to maneuver it using non-standard thrust. (Of course the ''real'' problem was that once they learned that they were 30 seconds from collision, they spend the next 25 seconds ''talking'' about what they should do.)

** TalkingIsAFreeAction

* In the ''Series/DoctorWho'' serial "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS19E2FourToDoomsday Four to Doomsday]]", the Fifth Doctor threw a cricket ball in one direction in order to move himself in the other.
** Particularly, he threw the cricket ball at the ship, pushing him away from it and towards the TARDIS (which, thanks to Adric, was floating along the spaceship), and then caught the ball on its return trajectory, giving himself a further speed boost.

* ''PowerPack'' has a variation--though not done in space, Alex manages to push himself around while degravitized using just about anything he can find with a spray nozzle, though he gets the most mileage out of a fire extinguisher.

* [[PhineasAndFerb Perry the Platypus]] used two aerosol spray cans like this once, to get out of a pit.

* Used in ''NinePlanetsWithoutIntelligentLife'', after an accidental ejection from a car. [[http://www.bohemiandrive.com/comics/npwil/47.html It will take a while]].

* ''InLikeFlint''. Derek Flint uses a "sonic amplifier" to maneuver in space. Did I mention he's IN SPACE, which is a vacuum?
** Impossible? Of course it's impossible! That's why he's Flint!

* ''Film/HaroldAndKumarEscapeFromGuantanamoBay''; Harold has the only parachute, and he tells Kumar to "swim" in the air, so Harold can catch him, then open the parachute and save both their lives. It's not space, but they're in freefall, so that counts as microgravity.
* In ''Film/TheATeam'', the team uses the main gun of a TANK to maneuver the plummeting armored vehicle so it hits water instead of land. If the above Harold and Kumar counts, this should too. It's also utterly impractical but also ''CrazyAwesome''.
** Believe it or not, this entire scene is [[http://www.escapistmagazine.com/videos/view/reel-physics/6640-The-A-Team-Tank-Flying plausible.]]

* In ''TheJourneymanProject 2: Buried in Time'', the only way to reach the Amarax Station from your jump point is to use an aerosol can of [[BrandX Cheese Girl]] to propel yourself toward the station.

* Spike Spiegel from ''CowboyBebop'' once used the recoil from a pistol in such a fashion.

* In the pilot for ''Come Back Mrs Noah'', Mrs Noah maneuvers in Zero G by spritzing her perfume sprayer.

* In ''{{Nethack}}'', you can propel yourself backward while floating by throwing an item.

* in {{Nethack}}, you can propel yourself backward while floating by throwing an item.

* Players in ''VideoGame/SpaceStation13" may sometimes be forced to do this. They have a tendency to fail.

* In the pilot for ''Series/ComeBackMrsNoah'', Mrs Noah maneuvers in Zero G by spritzing her perfume sprayer.

* WesternAnimation/WallE, also with a fire extinguisher.
* In-atmosphere example? Russell from the movie ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' used a leafblower to propel himself while he was "technically" weightless, having several balloons tied to him.

[[folder:Film]]

* In ''TitanAE'', Captain Korso used a fire extinguisher to maneuver.
* WesternAnimation/WallE, also with a fire extinguisher.
* In-atmosphere example? Russell from the movie ''WesternAnimation/{{Up}}'' used a leafblower to propel himself while he was "technically" weightless, having several balloons tied to him.

* ''Film/{{Gravity}}''. A fire breaks out on the International Space Station, and when Ryan Stone tries to extinguish it the thrust of the extinguisher slams her against the bulkhead, knocking her unconscious for a moment. This becomes a ChekhovsGun when she later uses the extinguisher to maneuver herself to another space station.

* In the ''Literature/GaeaTrilogy'', while not in space, the hub of Gaea is basically in zero gee. To escape from it near the end of ''Wizard'', Cirroco throws every object she was carrying in the opposite direction -- and curses herself for throwing her gun without firing its ammo first.

* ''WesternAnimation/BlackDynamite'' did this in one episode after America's Most Loved Black Man, [=O.J. Simpson=], tricked him into going into space. His rocket exploded and he had to get himself to an abandoned Soviet space station, so he fired his BFG revolver in the opposite direction.

* While it didn't happen in space, in ''Charlie and the Great Glass Elevator'', Willie Wonka shows everyone how to maneuver in microgravity by puffing their cheeks and blowing as hard as they can.