Abstract
What happens to gravity? Is it really zero when we go into space? After all, everything that is not fastened down floats, including astronauts and their belongings. Surprisingly, zero gravity does not actually exist. All solar systems in the universe, stars and their orbiting planets are held together by gravity. Earth’s gravitational field holds the moon in an orbit about 238,000 miles away. The moon’s gravitational field causes the tides in Earth’s oceans. All of the planets and moons in our Solar System are held in stable orbits by the Sun’s gravitational field. Zero gravity is not an accurate description of space flight conditions.
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© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
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Phillips, R.W. (2012). Everything Is Topsy Turvy. In: Grappling with Gravity. Astronomers' Universe. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6899-9_5
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-6899-9_5
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Publisher Name: Springer, New York, NY
Print ISBN: 978-1-4419-6898-2
Online ISBN: 978-1-4419-6899-9
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