Read the resource about the International Space Station (ISS) located within the weekly readings. The space station orbits Earth about 400 km above the surface of Earth (NASA.gov). At this height the force of gravity from Earth is only about 10% less than on the surface of Earth. Using the concepts of circular motion and gravitational forces learned in this Topic; explain the following in your own words:
Why does the space station not fall down?
Why do the astronauts float inside the space station?
Ans.
1) The space is falling down due to earth's gravity pull all the time but at the same time it's also moving in circular motion around the earth. Due to the shape of earth(curved), the distance by which space station falls down(while moving in circular motion and its speed is set up) is equal to the distance by which earth curves. So the distance between earth and the station is the same (all the time) i.e it appears that the staion is not falling down.
2) The astronauts floats because they are in free fall. Everything around them is falling toward earth at same acceleration.
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