In space, if the ISS is traveling at 17,150 miles per hour how does it look so stationary in the video from the Dragon capsule. Also How does it dock so precisely when it is moving so fast.
In: Physics
It’s about *relative* speed.
Imagine you and I are on the bullet train which is travelling at its top speed. We’re both rocketing along at 200mph, but inside the cabin, we’re actually stationary in relation to each other.
So, if I throw a tennis ball to you and throw it at 5mph in the direction the train is moving, that ball is only moving at 5mph relative to you. You see the ball coming towards you at about average walking pace so it’s easy to catch… but to someone standing by the side of the track, when I throw that ball, it’s moving at 205mph relative to them. You’ve just caught a ball travelling at 205mph.
Think of it this way: right now the Earth is spinning at 1000mph. It’s orbiting the sun at about 66,000mph, and our solar system is orbiting around the center of the galaxy at 828,000mph.
So, from the perspective of someone standing at the center of the galaxy, when you park your car, you’re manuevering it into a parking spot while travelling nearly a million miles per hour.
You are currently moving at about 67000 mph through space. You can’t feel it because the air and everything around you is also moving at 67000 mph. You can walk through doorways and park your car at 67000 mph as long as this remains true. The Dragon capsule and the space station were travelling at the same speed as they docked. Just like you and your car or the doorway. If they were still in the atmosphere then things would be different but as the air at that altitude is pretty much none existent so they don’t feel like they are moving any quicker than we are on the ground
I think another important thing to consider is the lack of atmospheric particles in space. Things moving at very high velocities within the atmosphere are hitting a lot of molecules in the air creating friction, re-entry burn, etc. Basically, that’s what gives the appearance of instability at high velocity, but in space where there are little-to-no particles to cause that friction, vehicles moving at very high velocity won’t show that same instability.
The same way you can push buttons on your cars dashboard while moving at 65 mph down the freeway.
, have you ever been on the highway?
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its because speed is relative and if they’re both traveling at the same speed, it barely feels lime they’re moving at all
Wanna see how fast and complex you are _really_ moving? https://www.forbes.com/sites/startswithabang/2018/08/30/our-motion-through-space-isnt-a-vortex-but-something-far-more-interesting/amp/
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