Why Are Astronauts Weightless In The Space Station

Objects in earth orbit have to travel at least 28 160 km h 17 500 mph.

Why are astronauts weightless in the space station. The earth is curving away beneath them as they speed up towards it so they never succeed. So in a strange way astronauts are not weightless because there s no gravity. Astronauts seem to float weightless in the iss and during spacewalks.

Why some people say yes. Calcium in bones secretes out through urine. As the bones weaken astronauts are more susceptible to breaking them if they slip and.

We also have to remember that there are tons and tons of space debris as well as satellites that are out in space around the planet. Why some people say no. It s actually the pull of gravity on a very very fast moving spacecraft that puts them into an endless fall making them experience the fun and sometimes nauseating thrill of weightlessness.

The answer to this is just a bit more complicated but the basis is that there is some gravity in space so the weightless condition of the astronauts doesn t have anything to do with gravity. Force fields other than gravity edit. So as they accelerate towards the earth the earth curves away beneath them and they never get any closer.

They only feel weightless because they are falling around the earth in an orbit at the same speeed as the shuttle or spacestation they are in. An object in a straight free fall or in a more complex inertial trajectory of free fall such as within a reduced gravity aircraftor inside a space station all experience weightlessness since they do not experience the mechanical forces that cause the sensation of weight. Whilst the rocket is firing the astronauts do experience a push in any.

In fact the force of gravity does act on objects in the iss although they appear to float freely as. That s right they don t fall to earth but keep falling around it traveling at a minimum of 28 160 km h. Astronauts in space for weeks to months can run into trouble.