Why do astronauts aboard the International Space Station seem to float? The ISS is only about 200 miles above Earth—where, according to Newton, gravity is almost as strong as it is here on...

2025年1月13日 · The ISS orbits at a height of about 402 kilometers, or 250 miles (we'll explain why we describe it as "about" shortly) and is traveling at 7.6 kilometres (4.7 miles) per second, which is the ...

2017年5月3日 · The answer is that astronauts float in space because they are free-falling toward the Earth (see the “orbital speed” title below). They experience the same thing experienced by a roller coaster rider on an amusement park ride.

2024年11月13日 · Astronauts seem to float weightless in the ISS and during spacewalks but it has nothing to do with the lack of gravity in space, in fact, it's the opposite.

Why some people say yes: Earth's gravitational field extends into space, and therefore pulls the ISS and astronauts inside it. In fact, the force of gravity does act on objects in the ISS although they appear to float freely, as they would in deep space in the complete absence of gravity.

Both the ISS and its occupants are falling due to the Earth's gravitational field, but their tangential momentum means that they keep missing and so orbit the Earth. Since they are falling at the same rate, the occupants appear to float inside. Probably safer to talk about weightless than effective gravity.

2023年2月21日 · The ISS is constantly falling toward Earth’s surface due to the pull of gravity. However, it is also moving away fast enough to perfectly match the way Earth’s surface curves, allowing it to perpetually fall around the planet, just as …

2016年3月28日 · Did you know that astronauts on the International Space Station (ISS) experience about 90% of the gravitational acceleration that we feel on Earth’s surface? That might seem strange, especially since when we look at them, they are always floating around.

2020年4月25日 · Astronauts in the ISS are in free fall all the time because they have only gravity acting on them, but when it comes to their floating motion I just cannot grasp the concept. How can a body be floating seems counter-intuitive to me.

2013年5月6日 · By the way, your description of the ISS as “floating” is not quite accurate. It has a current total mass of over 400,000 kg, and is pulled downward by gravity with a force of 4 million newtons (about 1 million pounds). Gravity extends to that altitude (and beyond), and is only a few percent less than at ground level.