The question was asked, “Why do astronauts aboard the international space statio

Question

The question was asked, “Why do astronauts aboard the international space station (ISS) seem to float? The international space station is only 200 miles above the Earth, where according to Newton, gravity is almost as strong as it is on the ground.” in an article in Smithsonian. The reply was "They experience weightlessness not because of a lack of gravity but because the ISS, and they, are orbiting Earth in constant free fall. They’re falling toward earth and moving forward at about the same velocity. Because the downward and forward forces are nearly equal, the astronauts are not pulled in any specific direction, so they float."

Can someone explain this to me? I'm supposed to be able to discuss this in class.

Explanation / Answer

Assume that the ISS moves at speed v about the earth ( and so do the astronomers)
The, acc of the ISS wrt earth = mv^2/(R + h) [ towards the earth, centripetal acc] = Acc of astronaut
Now Acceleration of astronaut wrt ISS = Acceleration of Astronaut wrt eart - Acceleration of ISS wrt earth = 0
So, Net force on astronaut in ISS frame of rereference = 0
Hence the astronauts float inside ISS [ as seen from ISS] but they actually are revolving around earth at a speed V

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