The weight of the space shuttle is about 4.5 million pounds. How many people would it take to move it? Answer in units of people.

Assuming that they are pulling the space shuttle straight up, and that this is done on the surface of the earth, where gravity is equal to 9.8 m/s^2. So taking the average pull force of a person to be 110 kg, then:

110 kg/person * 9.8 m/s^2 = 1078 kg*m/s^2, or 1078 N/person (Newtons).

1 Newton is about 0.225 lb. So, 1078 N/person * 0.225 lb/N = 242.34 lb/person.

So if the space shuttle weighs 4,500,000 lb, then it would take 4,500,000 lb / (242.34 lb/person) = 18,569 people.

Answer:

18,569 people