In space would you need the same tensile strength of rope to pull an object as you do on earth. Example would a 1mm thread be able to pull the space shuttle, if slowly brought up to speed.
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$\begingroup$ Here is a video where an astronaut demonstrates something like this. In Space, A Single Hair Can Move You. This is inside the space station. There is air, but no gravity. $\endgroup$– mmesser314Commented May 8, 2021 at 0:50
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Yes, the strength of materials is essentially unaffected by a 1 atm change in pressure. (See here, for example, Cadell & Kim, "Influence of hydrostatic pressure on the yield strength of anisotropic polycarbonate," International Journal of Mechanical Sciences (1981), for a report of the thousands of atmopheres that it takes to alter the yield stress of polycarbonate by only 10%.) You'd find that the thread (barring environmental degradation) has the same strength as it does on the Earth's surface, and since this strength is nonzero, you'd be able to accelerate arbitrarily large free objects as long as you kept the tension small enough.
answered May 7, 2021 at 20:19