Chris Hadfield Juggling Tomatoes on the ISS (2013)
As we have all observed, astronauts on the space station experience what appears to be zero gravity. You might think this is because the space station is far from Earth, and the force of gravity diminishes with the square of the distance, according to Newton’s Law of Universal Gravitation. Thus, being far from Earth would result in low gravity. However, this is not the case. The reason for the microgravity on the space station is not due to its distance from Earth, but rather because the station, and everything inside it, is in “free fall.” Although the space station is only about 250 miles from the Earth’s surface and still experiences about 90% of Earth’s gravity, the astronauts inside experience microgravity. This is because the space station, the astronauts, and all objects inside are falling towards Earth at the same rate, creating an environment where there is relatively no gravity. It’s a phenomenon very similar to the sensation of weightlessness you experience on a roller coaster, when it accelerates towards the earth at around 9.8 m/s²
Garrett's Night Sky 
One response to “How Gravity on the Space Station Actually Works”
That’s a cool way to be able to orbit the Earth while also being able to experience that floating sensation. So these space stations are always moving, yeah? If they are always moving just fast enough to maintain that free fall feeling. How precise do they have to be to stay in that constant orbit? Is there a specific amount of area in the atmosphere that allows them to maintain that feeling or is it just dependent on how fast they are going? Let me know what you think?
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