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Gravity is proportional to the mass and inversely proportional to the square of the distance of the centre of the body or bodies.

As the shuttle orbits at a comparatively low altitude and the mass remains constant the force diminishes only slightly. Being in free-fall does not mean there is no gravity.

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14y ago
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8y ago

Gravity falls off with the square of the distance so the force will be less at 19200 kilometers as compared to on the Earth's surface.

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Q: How does the force of gravity on an astronaut orbiting in the space shuttle compare with the force of gravity on the same astronaut when she is standing on the earth s surface?
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Continue Learning about Natural Sciences

What helps keep the planets orbiting the sun?

Gravity and Inertia


Why isn't an astronaut in our solar system in zero gravity?

An astronaut can never be in zero gravity in our solar system, because there is gravity (usually) from the Earth, and always from the Sun. It is important to distinguish weightlessness from zero gravity. Weightlessness occurs in a gravity environment in which the person is freefalling, hopefully in orbit. In a freefall condition, there is no friction to retard your fall, so you feel nothing pressing against you, and thus you feel weightless..When in orbit around the Earth, an astronaut is in freefall, and is therefore weightless, but there is still gravity. When travelling between the Earth to the Moon, the astronaut is still in orbit around the Sun, and is therefore freefalling weightlessly.


How does orbiting earth effect astronauts?

First of all the low gravity decreases all the muscle tone inside the astronaut. They find themselves unable to keep their food down in zero gravity. Then their is time. Time goes faster for them as they are away from the earth. It is because they are away from a earth a heavy body. Im not going to explain this in details as the answer is not for this question.


How did the dust orbiting the sun in a disk come to form the earth?

Mostly gravity.


What force keeps the moon in orbit around the sun?

The force of gravity that they exert on each other, and the velocities of the Moon and Earth which is their "inertia".

Related questions

what is it called when an orbiting astronaut and feels no gravity?

Weightlessness.


Why do you weight less in orbiting the earth then you do standing on earth?

Gravity


An astronaut inside a small space ship orbiting around the earth cannot detect gravity.If the space station orbiting around the earth has a large size can he hope to detect gravity?

If the size of the space station is large enough, then the astronaut will detect the change in Earth's gravity (g).


Are objects lighter when the gravity is weaker?

One example is how light an astronaut weighed when standing on the moon. As there is very little gravity on the moon, the astronaut was able to jump much higher than he could back on earth.


What force acts on an astronaut standing still on the moon?

Gravity, mainly that of the moon. Gravity on the Moon is a lot less than on Earth but it works in the same way.


Why do astronauts feel gravity in space?

There is always gravity between two objects. If the astronaut is in a stable orbit around an object, he/she will not sense any gravity. If he/she is standing on the object, such as the Moon, there will be a sense of gravity. In the case of the moon, its gravity is about one sixth that of Earth. Also, if the spacecraft is accelerating, the the reaction force of the engine will cause the sense of gravity as well.There is also gravity between the astronaut and the spaceship, but that is so small that it will generally not be noticed.


What anastronaut working in Space near the International space station says she feel weightless. What does she mean Does the astronaut no have weight?

It actually means that the astronaut is in free fall, and doesn't FEEL gravity. Gravity does affect the astronaut, so the astronaut will still be accelerated towards Earth. However, the astronaut won't feel the gravity.


What does a force of 5g means to an astrnaut if he often refer to forces as multiples of the forces of gravity on earth's surface during space flight?

This means that during space flight the astronaut is feeling a force which is 5 times that of gravity, therefore the astronaut is being pulled five times as much as he is standing on the planet


What force is responsible for the moon orbiting earth and earth orbiting the sun?

The force of gravity.


How does Gravity affect astronouts in space?

Gravity from objects such as the Earth, the Moon, the Sun, or the Milky Way will attract and accelerate an astronaut. "Accelerate" implies that the astronaut's velocity will change over time.If the astronaut is in free fall (basically, the spaceship's engine is not pushing the spacecraft), then the astronaut won't FEEL such gravity.


What is the force for the moon orbiting the earth?

Gravity


Do astronaughts feel gravity in space?

No, unless they are near a body with enough mass to have gravitational pull. For example, standing on the moon they would feel gravity (although it's a lot less than Earth's gravity ) but floating in space technically there is still gravity but it is such a small force that an astronaut would not feel it.