I understand why astronauts orbiting the earth are weightless since they are in constant freefall. But why are the astronauts who went to the moon weightless?
I imagine that as you accelerate away from the earth towards the moon, you are no longer falling but are instead climbing. Intuitively, I think that this would give you some kind of gravity. Coming back I would think that you are constantly falling towards the earth, so I understand how the return journey would be weightless.
In: Physics
Falling is not the best word because it implies going ‘down’. Objects in orbit are not falling so much as they are in free fall. The Apollo astronauts were in earth’s orbit all the way until they got close to the moon. Their orbit was simply very eccentric or lopsided. When you throw a ball straight up, as soon as it leaves your hand it is in free fall even as it still goes up.
Whenever gravity is the only force acting on you then you will feel weightless. This includes ballistic trajectories (throwing something) and all orbits including ones that take you to the moon.
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