This attractive force, more commonly known as gravity, is a non-contact force that acts on us from a distance. Our weight on Earth depends on our mass, which is how much matter we are made of, as well as the force of attraction between our mass and the mass of planet Earth. To prepare for our journey, we must first understand what the heck weightlessness actually is. Our dreams of floating in space are closer to becoming reality than ever before. Weightlessness may only be for astronauts, but with the help of private companies like SpaceX, Blue Origin, and Virgin Galactic, becoming astronauts may not be so far-fetched. So, is dreaming really as close as we’ll ever get to floating in space? Is the magical experience of weightlessness really limited to the tiny proportion of human beings who get to call themselves something-nauts (you know, astronauts, cosmonauts, taikonauts, spationauts)? Not so fast. The weight of our rear ends pressed firmly into our seats brings us crashing back to planet Earth, back to reality. We have seen footage of astronauts floating around the International Space Station playing Ping-Pong with balls of water and Pac-Man with strings of M&Ms.įor a moment, as we watch these astronauts thriving in an environment completely alien to us, we are able to imagine ourselves floating around with them. Weightlessness is something many of us have dreamed about since we were kids.
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