- #1
danlightbulb
- 19
- 0
Hi all,
This isn't a homework question, its just something I'm personally wondering about.
I understand why an astronaut in orbit around the Earth feels weightless, because he is in a constant state of freefall, traveling towards the Earth just as fast as the Earth is dropping away underneath him.
However, when traveling towards the moon, the astronaut is no longer in freefall around the Earth. The bulk of the Earth would be underneath him and he would be traveling effectively vertically upwards from the Earth towards the Moon. I liken this to being in an elevator traveling upwards away from the Earth. In an elevator traveling upwards the person still feels the gravity of the Earth and still stands on the surface (floor of the elevator) closest to the Earth.
So why in a journey to the Moon were the astronauts still weightless?
Thanks
Dan
This isn't a homework question, its just something I'm personally wondering about.
I understand why an astronaut in orbit around the Earth feels weightless, because he is in a constant state of freefall, traveling towards the Earth just as fast as the Earth is dropping away underneath him.
However, when traveling towards the moon, the astronaut is no longer in freefall around the Earth. The bulk of the Earth would be underneath him and he would be traveling effectively vertically upwards from the Earth towards the Moon. I liken this to being in an elevator traveling upwards away from the Earth. In an elevator traveling upwards the person still feels the gravity of the Earth and still stands on the surface (floor of the elevator) closest to the Earth.
So why in a journey to the Moon were the astronauts still weightless?
Thanks
Dan