Do you mean dump mass or forcefully eject mass? The former would do nothing except make future acceleration easier, while the latter is the same principle behind a rocket.
I was implying ejection when I wrote “throw out” to make this exactly a poorly-described rocket, but I can see where my humor fell flat on its face.
When I learned as a child that rockets accelerate by ejecting mass, I used to chuckle at the idea of a rocket with a high-value payload, but not enough fuel to maneuver towards Earth, so it launches hardware like seats and beds, bleeds oxygen, and then boots the astronauts.
Do you mean dump mass or forcefully eject mass? The former would do nothing except make future acceleration easier, while the latter is the same principle behind a rocket.
I was implying ejection when I wrote “throw out” to make this exactly a poorly-described rocket, but I can see where my humor fell flat on its face.
When I learned as a child that rockets accelerate by ejecting mass, I used to chuckle at the idea of a rocket with a high-value payload, but not enough fuel to maneuver towards Earth, so it launches hardware like seats and beds, bleeds oxygen, and then boots the astronauts.