if the earth moves at over 60k MPH, why does it appear slow to astronauts? Is everything relative to the universe moving? And if so, how fast are you really going when floating in space at a standstill?
In: Physics
It appears slow because the astronauts have similar momentum. They are flying through space right alongside the planet at nearly the same speed; its actually very difficult to slow down to a point where you would remain in the same position relative to the sun… At which point, the sun’s gravity would pull you in, as you lower your angular velocity.
Nothing in space is generally “not moving” because micro forces of gravity still exist to accelerate objects in a particular direction, and very little exists to slow things down. These things either get caught in an orbit, slingshot off of other celestial bodies because they have too much energy… or collide with them because they are not moving in any other direction fast enough to avoid it.
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