Maybe a simple experiment in ‘’orbital mechanics’’ will help. Tie a string to a ball or stick and whirl it around your head. Notice how it travels around you in a circle? Imagine that the object is a spaceship and you are the Earth. The string represents the force of gravity. The same forces are at work when a spaceship orbits the Earth (except gravity, unlike your string, is invisible). If an orbiting ship were to speed up, it would ‘’break’’ free of gravity and travel into space. If were to slow down, it would plummet back to the Earth’s surface (which is precisely how spaceships return for a safe landing). Ships and space stations maintain orbit by ‘’falling’’ around the Earth at just the right speed. Because the astronauts are falling at the same speed as the ship around them, they experience the sensation of weightlessness – or free fall. You would experience the same thing if you were in an elevator and the cable snapped suddenly. The elevator would plummet to the ground with you falling inside it at the same speed. You’d float weightlessly inside the elevator until (hopefully) the emergency brakes kicked in and brought your free-falling experience to a slow stop.
Picture Credit : Google
