In space, why do thrust and gravity behave differently when accelerating objects?

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If I attach the same engine to a 1,000 kg spacecraft and a 10,000 kg spacecraft in orbit, the 1,000 kg spacecraft will accelerate more quickly. If I drop a 1 kg rock and a 10 kg rock on the moon, they accelerate at the same rate. What is the difference?

I think what I may be asking is “why is gravity the a and not the f in f=ma.”

EDIT: BY all means please feel free to discuss, but I consider the question answered by u/mmmmmmBacon12345

mmmmmmm….. Bacon…..

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Anonymous 0 Comments

As others have pointed out it takes more energy to accelerate objects that have more mass.

However it should be noted that gravity does scale the with the mass of an object dropped onto another object. It is the combination of the mass of both objects one needs to consider. But if one object is the size of the earth or moon and the other is only a few tons, the mass of the smaller object can be ignored.

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