Science · 6 pages · 12 min

Why astronauts feel weightless in orbit

Astronauts feel weightless because they fall with the ship, so nothing pushes back.

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From the opening

Astronauts feel weightless because they and their ship are falling together around the Earth. Gravity is still pulling hard, but there is no floor pushing back, and without that push there is no sensation of weight. The opening covers why a scale reads nothing, why a tool floats beside you, and what a falling cabin shares.

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Inside

Why a scale reads nothing
Why a tool floats beside you
What a falling cabin shares
When thrust brings weight back
Where the idea stops applying
A distinction worth keeping

Sources

Weight as the support force absent in free fall
Einstein's falling-room thought experiment

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Why astronauts feel weightless in orbit

From the opening

Inside

Sources

Also on the desk