Why do astronauts no disappear into the distance when they release their hold on their space craft (like the ISS) which is travelling at incredible speeds through space?

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There is no air resistance, I get that. And the space craft/ISS is in orbit, I *kind* of get that. But if astronauts still experience acceleration in space, why do they not experience deceleration when they are no longer getting “pulled” by their vehicle?

BONUS QUESTION: at what point does acceleration forces stop? A space ship accelerates in space, all crew are pushed back into their seats, but when does that feeling dissipate if they remain at that new speed?

In: Physics

11 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Because the astronaut is traveling at the same speed as the vehicle they are riding in.

The room you are in currently traveling in all sorts of different directions (Earth rotation around its own axis earth orbiting the sun and the sun itself traveling in respect to the stars and the galaxy etc) but if you jump up right now you won’t be smashed into a wall.

The thing that you have difficulty with is that you don’t feel speed.

On earth you are always slowed down by friction but outside the atmosphere, Newton rules.

what you do feel is acceleration. getting faster and slowing down or changing the direction.

If you have ever ridden a reasonably good train you will not have felt anything about how fast the outside world moves by unless you look out the window.

You aren’t pulled by the train unless it is accelerating, if it is just going at constant speed down straight tracks you won’t feel anything.

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