• Question: Why isn't there gravity in space?

    Asked by Resh@science to Chris, Hayley, Jimi, Maddison, Omur on 15 Mar 2016.
    • Photo: Jimi Wills

      Jimi Wills answered on 15 Mar 2016:

      There is.

      Every thing that has a mass (you, me, this planet, Justin Beiber, the moon) also has a gravitational field around it. The field stretches out forever, but gets weaker very quickly. Every time you double the distance from the thing, the gravity is a quarter the strength. And it’s already very weak to start with.

      So in space it can seem like there’s no gravity, because you’re so far away from anything.

      BUT

      If you’re in orbit the weightlessness is not because there’s no gravity. It’s because the gravity is only keeping you in orbit. It’s like you’re falling, but moving to fast sideways that the Earth keeps popping out from underneath you. The constant falling gives the feeling of being weightless.

    • Photo: Chris Conselice

      Chris Conselice answered on 16 Mar 2016:

      There is gravity in space.

      You just cannot feel is as strongly as you are so far away from massive objects like stars and planets. You feel gravity stronger the closer you are to an object.

    • Photo: Omur Tastan

      Omur Tastan answered on 16 Mar 2016:

      There is gravity but you can’t feel it because you are so far away from planets or moons which has a mass and can pull you towards them:)

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