Why is the following situation impossible ? An astronaut, together with the equi

Question

Why is the following situation impossible? An astronaut, together with the equipment he carries, has a mass of 150 kg. He is taking a space walk outside his spacecraft, which is drifting through space with a constant velocity. The astronaut accidentally pushes against the spacecraft and begins moving away at 20.0 m/s, relative to the spacecraft, without a tether. To return, he takes equipment off his space suit and throws it in the direction away from the spacecraft. Because of his bulky space suit, he can throw equipment at a maximum speed of 5.00 m/s relative to himself. After throwing enough equipment, he starts moving back to the spacecraft and is able to grab onto it and climb inside.

Explanation / Answer

we use conservation of momentum as

initial momentum=mV=150*20=3000 kg-m/s

now let he removes x kg of weight so...

final momentum=(150-x)*-20 +x*5....( v taken negative as he throws mass he moves in opposite direction)

so equating the two momentum we get...

3000=(150-x)*-20 +x*5

solving we get x=240 kgs

but the total max mass was 150 kgs which contradicts...so its nt possible

please do rate...

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