Saw this little tidbit on Space.com and thought it was worth reposting for all Junior Rocket Scientists out there...
Blame the term "zero-gravity" for the common misconception that there is no gravity in space. Gravity is everywhere, even in space. Astronauts look weightless because they are in continuous freefall towards the Earth, staying aloft because of their horizontal motion. The effect of gravity diminishes with distance, but it never truly goes away. Oh, and while we're at it, it's also untrue that space is a vacuum. There are all kinds of atoms out there, albeit sometimes far apart (and this thin gas adds to the collective gravity budget, too!)
Blame the term "zero-gravity" for the common misconception that there is no gravity in space. Gravity is everywhere, even in space. Astronauts look weightless because they are in continuous freefall towards the Earth, staying aloft because of their horizontal motion. The effect of gravity diminishes with distance, but it never truly goes away. Oh, and while we're at it, it's also untrue that space is a vacuum. There are all kinds of atoms out there, albeit sometimes far apart (and this thin gas adds to the collective gravity budget, too!)
So for those of us who dream of defying gravity, it seems we have our work cut out for us.
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