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They don't. They have just as much gravitational force on them as you and me. The difference is the two initial frames of reference. You and I are being held down to planet. They are "falling" around the planet in an orbital free fall.
An object is said to be in free fall when the only force acting on it is its weight. All objects in a vacuum fall at the same rate regardless of their masses. All bodies in orbit, including the International Space Station (ISS), are in free fall, but as long as they are going fast enough their momentum keeps them in orbit instead of falling down. Since the net force acting on the astronauts and cosmonauts in the ISS are exactly the same as those acting on the ISS itself, with respect to the ISS they experience a net force of zero, which means that they are experiencing weightlessness.
There is (apparent) zero gravity. The absolute gravity in orbit is about 90% of what it is on the surface of the earth, but the effective gravity is zero, and for a good reason.The fact is that in orbit, you are actually falling, but your forward speed is such that the curvature of the planet is dropping at the same rate that you are falling.And the astronauts are falling at the exact same speed as their capsule. This is called freefall.
An orbiting spacecraft or space station continues in orbit because its forward momentum carries it around the planet even as gravity tries to pull it down. So astronauts are literally "falling" toward the Earth when they are in orbit. This "freefall" means that they do not experience the actual acceleration force. Nothing in an orbiting spacecraft experiences effective gravity, so moving around is much easier, and objects have to be secured to prevent them from floating away.However, objects still have the same mass, so will have the same inertia if moving: an iron weight thrown across the cabin will impact with the same force if it hits something, and a huge satellite in a shuttle launch bay will still require a lot of energy to push from the bay. But the absence of gravity would make exercises such as a one-hand push-up ridiculously easy to do.
Its not a questions of height or altitude. Its about things free falling. A space ship falling around the Earth (everything in the space ship is also falling at the same speed) the astronauts are falling too. If you put a scale on the floor and an astronaut stepped on it, there is no downward force so it looks like they are weightless. Picture yourself in an elevator at the top floor. You're standing on a scale. Gravity pulls you and the scale, but the elevator floor prevent you from falling. The scale will measure your weight. If the elevator suddenly fell, it, you and the scale would all be accelerating towards the basement at 9.8m/s/s. The scale would read ZERO, because there is no force acting on the scale.
Because of free fall in orbit, astronauts experience a continuous state of falling towards Earth while moving forward at a high speed. This results in a sensation of weightlessness, giving the appearance that they are floating or flying inside the spacecraft.
Because of free fall, astronauts in orbit appear weightless and float within their spacecraft. This is due to the spacecraft and everything inside it, including the astronauts, all falling towards Earth together at the same rate. The sensation of weightlessness is a result of this continuous state of free fall.
Astronauts appear to be floating in space because they are in a state of continuous free fall around the Earth. This creates a feeling of weightlessness, where they float inside their spacecraft. The apparent lack of gravity is due to the spacecraft and everything inside it, including the astronauts, falling towards the Earth at the same rate.
Astronauts inside a falling shuttle experience weightlessness because they are in a state of free fall alongside the shuttle. This means both the astronauts and the shuttle are falling together at the same rate, so there is no sensation of hitting the ceiling despite the lack of gravity.
Astronauts in orbit around Earth experience microgravity, which gives the sensation of weightlessness. This occurs because they are in constant freefall towards Earth, but moving sideways fast enough that they continually miss the planet. This creates the feeling of weightlessness as they are essentially falling with the spacecraft.
Astronauts inside the International Space Station experience a sensation of weightlessness due to the constant free-fall around Earth. This is because the spacecraft and everything inside it are in a state of continuous motion, falling towards Earth while also moving forward at a high speed, creating a feeling of weightlessness.
Yes, but they do not "feel" gravity, because they are falling - "free fall" in orbit around the Earth.
You may have seen photos or videos of astronauts who appear to be floating through the air while in space. They aren't flying, nor are they really floating, they are falling. Any orbiting spacecraft (such as the space shuttle or international space station) is actually falling around the Earth in a circular pattern. They have achieved enough speed (over 17,000 mph) to continue moving around the Earth without the Earth's gravity pulling the spacecraft down. Astronauts aboard those spacecraft are moving inside the spacecraft and falling along with them at the same speed giving the appearance that they flying or floating inside.
They don't. They have just as much gravitational force on them as you and me. The difference is the two initial frames of reference. You and I are being held down to planet. They are "falling" around the planet in an orbital free fall.
In an airplane, you are still affected by Earth's gravity as the plane is flying against the pull of gravity, creating lift and keeping you pressed down towards the floor. In an orbiting spacecraft, you are in free fall around Earth, so you and the spacecraft are falling towards Earth at the same rate hence you experience weightlessness.
Weightlessness in orbit is not due to being beyond Earth's gravity, but rather to being in a state of continuous free fall around the planet. In orbit, the spacecraft and everything inside are falling towards Earth at the same rate, creating the sensation of weightlessness. Gravity is still present in orbit but it is balanced by the spacecraft's forward motion, creating an apparent state of weightlessness.
We experience weightlessness in space because we are in free fall around the Earth, falling at the same rate as the spacecraft we are in. This creates the sensation of "floating" because there is no support force acting against gravity.