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At 100 miles from the surface of the earth, gravity is still quite strong, as you've indicated. The reason astronauts appear to be weightless is because they are in freefall. I.e. they are being pulled down by gravity, but never touching anything that provides an equal but opposite force up. If they are falling, why aren't they hitting the ground (or at least the floors/walls of their space craft)? It's because they (and their spacecraft) are in orbit. To be in orbit at 100 miles up, you'd have to be traveling at about 17,000 mph perpendicular to the pull of gravity. Fast enough so that when you fall toward the Earth, you move away far enough that the curve of the Earth "falls" away from you, so you stay at the same height.
Wiki User
∙ 14y ago
Wiki User
∙ 6y agoAstronauts feel weightless because they are in orbit around the earth. The downward pull of the earth (gravity) is balanced by the outward force of their movement. This is the centrifugal force or “The apparent force, equal and opposite to the centripetal force, drawing a rotating body away from the center of rotation, caused by the inertia of the body.” Thus the astronauts feel attracted to the eEarth by a force balanced by the force which would throw them away from the Earth. The two forces balance and they feel neither.
Gravity is still present from the earth but is negated.
Wiki User
∙ 6y agoThey are in "free fall" - the ONLY force that acts on them is gravity.For comparison, for somebody standing on Earth's surface, the ONLY reason you notice there is gravity is because the surface is pushing you upward.
Wiki User
∙ 6y agoThey're falling (constantly) towards the Earth. (They just keep missing - that's what an orbit is.)
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Why are objects in freefall considered Weightless?
Because the object's inertial motion is equal to the gravitational acceleration. Weight equals mass times gravitational acceleration (W=mg), so you would feel weightless, but your mass stays the same.
Why do you not feel weightless if flying in a large airplane at a high altitute but if you were in an orbiting spacecraft you would constantly feel weightless?
That's because an orbiting spacecraft is constantly falling, but ... let's hope ... the aircraft you're riding in is not.
Why do you feel colder in space although you are reaching closer to the Sun?
You do not feel colder in space. In fact one of the biggest problems is getting rid of heat.
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.
What does space look like feel like?
In space, it would usually feel like you're swimming in nothing and without an oxygen suit you will die because there isn't any oxygen. Space usually has meteors, asteroids and comets flying and floating around and it's just dark and starry.
Where does an astronaut start to feel weightless?
when the rockets stop firing, astronauts begin free fall (weightless).
Why do astronaut feel weightless in space?
They actually are weightless, due to the fact there is no gravity in space. However a sky-diver would say he/she feels weightless, but they are experiencing free-fall.
How do astronauts decide to go to space?
they feel as if they are ready
Why does a man feel weightless on the moon?
They don't. The moon has gravity but not as much as earth so they feel that they have less weight. In outer space a person would feel weightless because no gravity that they could notice is acting upon them.
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.
Why do astronauts feel weightless while in orbit?
Astronauts in orbit are weightless, but not because they are beyond the pull of earth's gravity. If the moon, roughly 240,000 miles away, is within the influence of earth's gravity, so is an astronaut just a few miles up in comparison. Astronauts are weightless because they are in orbit, and being in orbit can be thought of very roughly as a special kind of freefall. They are held by gravity, but they are also moving along a path that keeps them from descending appreciably during their flight. If you remember clips you have seen of astronauts in the space station, floating freely, you can see how futile it would be to try to 'stand' on an ordinary house scale to measure how 'heavy' they are in pounds. But if you could sling an astronaut around on a kind of mass-measuring centrifuge (not too fast, of course) you would see that they are maintaining a healthy mass. Weight and mass are different measures, even if they seem to be indistinguishable on the earth's surface.
How do the people who travel in space feel?
-- weightless -- falling -- nausea -- loneliness -- isolation -- insignificant in size
Are astronauts weightless during the Shuttle's launch?
Noop. In fact, as the Shuttle is accelerating, the astronauts are experiencing not only the pull of gravity, but also the acceleration of the rocket. For the comfort of the crew, they try to keep the excess gravity to about 4 G, basically 4 times the pull of gravity. Only after the engines have stopped, and the shuttle is no longer accelerating, will the astronauts feel weightless, as the Shuttle and astronauts are all falling around the Earth at the same speed.
What describes what people feel when they travel in space?
-- weightless -- falling -- nausea -- loneliness -- isolation -- insignificant in size
Unlike sound waves electromagnetic waves can travel in empty space what evidence supports this statement?
Our ability to see light from the stars, feel heat from the sun, and receive radio transmissionsfrom astronauts on the International Space Station.
How did astronauts feel when they were going to space?
i dont know, maybe they get scared or surpriced
Why do astronauts in orbit feel weightlessness?
they are falling through space around earth
