Refractory |
Weightlessness in orbitSo, how can astronauts experience weightlessness in orbit, while still so close to the earth? Well, it's the same as those Zero G flights that you can pay $6000 to go on. What the astronauts are really experiencing is freefall towards the planet, however they don't get closer to the planet, because they are circling it so fast that the surface of the planet directly below them, - being curved - drops away at the same rate. So, they are in constant freefall, which feels like weightlessness. |