Amateur rocket goes weightless (To follow up the Gagarin vid below)
At 73 miles high and 3580Mph.
That's 117Km high and 5761KmH
The guy who does this looks suspiciously like Mario.
"I lucha raaaket to spasa" etc
(, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 13:14, Share, Reply)
Not weightless, just falling.
Even at the ISS gravity is about 90% of that at the surface of the earth, it's just moving sideways as fast as it's falling to earth.
Any rocket would be similarly 'weightless' at the apogee of it's trajectory whether that was 73 miles up 3 feet up!
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da5id <YOUR SIG HERE>, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 13:34,
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There ARE weightless in the ISS
what they are not is massless.
Orbiting objects are (as you rightly point out) in a state of semi-perpetual free fall so subjectively they don't feel the force of gravity, hence weightless.
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notoolsovernight you're all luvvly an' 'orrible, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 13:54,
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meanwhile over at ISIS they are clueless
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fluffybunnykiller Is feasting on the clitoris of life, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 15:11,
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"Shakes angry fist at the Sky"
YOU IDIOTS ARE NOT WEIGHTLESS, YOU ARE FALLING, GET A CLUE!!!
People these days, living in or above a cloud.
(, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 15:14, Share, Reply)
Depends how you define the term 'weight'
'Mass' is the scientific term for the inherent property of matter that (among other things) causes objects to fall under the force of gravity. The term 'weight' is much less well defined, and for the purposes of describing the phenomenon of floating around in a space capsule 'weightlessness' is a perfectly reasonable description of being in a state where force of gravity appears to have been suspended and things do not fall towards the earth as they would normally do.
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notoolsovernight you're all luvvly an' 'orrible, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 16:15,
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In the middle of Material Science, and Mechanical Physics course...
So "Weight = mass x gravity" has been pummelled into my head with vigorous fervour.
So I agree with you that, in orbit, we experience "free-fall counteracted by velocity" and the true "weightlessness" only exists, in theory, in interstellar space.
And I bloody wish that mankind would send a probe to confirm or deny it instead of invading another stupid place full of brown people, or refinancing bankers with gambling habits.
I think the F35 or the bailout has already cost multiples of the total budget NASA or ESA budget since their inception.
So as much as I like fancy jets and fat cat bankers, I think that we, as a race, should strive a bit more for science and a bit less on dick waving and pocket filling.
(, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 16:59, Share, Reply)
They are weightless in the sense that if they put a bathroom scale on their feet, it would measure zero
The common misconception is that they are experiencing 'zero gravity'.
Zero-gravity is essentially impossible as long as there are atoms in the universe - Anything with mass creates a gravitational field.
As already described, the effect is due to being in a state of freefall.
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HoratioFellatio Taking the the out of psychotherapist, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 17:16,
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I waited over 5 hours for this phrase.
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FeralCatMan Unusual disease collector., Mon 23 Feb 2015, 19:21,
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What I like most is the utter lack of stars visible.
I know they're there, just always amazes me that they can'y be seen from views like this. Also, very spinney. Wasn't expecting that.
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NooShmoo It's a fantazmagorical pile of ultra bollocks, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 13:54,
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Seems it's spin stabilised to apogee.
Then a thruster of some sort "despins" it.
(, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 14:12, Share, Reply)
^This
although my entire knowledge of rocket science is gleaned from Kerbal Space Program
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H.B.Mupps, Mon 23 Feb 2015, 14:38,
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