science moment wrote:
Say you landed on a planet that had no atmosphere and that after standing on the ground for a while, you were able to pull out your anti-gravity device that allowed you to hover stationary 10 feet above the ground. Your lateral momentum would keep you there above the same spot on the ground. However, if you began moving yourself around relative to where you were, your path would always be deflected if you moved up or down in latitude. For example, if you moved towards the equator, your path would be systematically deflected because the rotational velocity of the earth at the equator is greater than the rotational speed at all points north or south. If you tried to head towards the pole, your path would also be deflected continuously and so you would have to continuously slow your horizontal velocity (e.g., in the direction of the latitude lines) down to actually go straight north.
If Santa Clause lived on this planet and took off from the north pole always pointing his sleigh directly south, the earth would be moving extremely fast beneath his sleigh when he arrived at the equator - so fast that he would circumnavigate the earth in a day.
Wait a minute. I thought you said that this was a no atmosphere planet. That would mean that the reindeer would have no oxygen to breath. I'm sorry but that is totally unrealistic. You have really lost all credibility.