[hamdani yusuf]

Reply #73 resolved my paradox very neatly and politely.

This thread hasn't had that many replies yet.

[Halc]

I hesitate to derail the discussion further, but If you burn fuel in a rocket engine, do you generate thrust or not?

I never said otherwise. But both our observers are generating the same thrust and consuming fuel at the same rate, so per the equivalence principle (which is what you should be discussing), no local test will show which is which.

Are you suggesting that the moon landings were faked?

This troll comment shows your intent. Thank you for that. I've split the thread.

This leaves us with the observation that the sensation of doing nothing on the surface of a planet is indistinguishable from the sensation of burning fuel at an ever-increasing rate in the absence of a large external mass.

Wrong at least twice. Neither is doing nothing, else, as I said before, it's apples to oranges. Both are consuming fuel at the same rate, and both have the sensation of proper acceleration, which isn't 'doing nothing'.

Secondly, rockets tend to lose mass as they progress, so to maintain constant proper acceleration, the fuel consumption goes down over time. This second part is irrelevant to the topic, but the first part is not.

[Bored chemist]

I hesitate to derail the discussion further,

Then don't.

If you burn fuel in a rocket engine, do you generate thrust or not?

Yes, but then again, nobody said otherwise, did they, so you are just trolling Is it  because you refuse to accept that you said something stupidly wrong?

The occupant feels as though he is standing on a planet, but knows he is accelerating because his fuel gauge is decreasing.

[Origin]

The occupant feels as though he is standing on a planet, but knows he is accelerating because his fuel gauge is decreasing.

If he looks out the window he also knows he is on a rocket.  Of course neither of those things have anything to do with the equivalence principle.

For crying out loud, you are monitor on a science site!  Isn't your goal to help members understand science??