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Grade 12Mechanics

I kgow astronaut orbiting around Earth feels weightlessness as he/she is in free fall.According to Newton's law of gravitation the gravitational force is everywhere.now my question is will Astronaut feel weightlessness if they will be moving in a straight line in a spaceship and not orbiting around earth. suppose that they are going to the Mars or any other planet outside of solar system will they feel weightlessness?

Profile image of Suni
8 Years agoGrade 12
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1 Answer

Profile image of Eshan
8 Years ago
Dear student,

Gravitational force is a weak force which has large magnitude only when acting between huge masses. However when distance between a small and a large mass is huge, as in case of spaceships travelling from one planet to another, the gravitaitonal force acting on the bodies are negligibly small and so any astronaut on the ship will feel weightless.