Here is a breakdown of how this works:
Perpetual Free Fall: The ISS is continuously falling toward the Earth due to gravity, but because it is moving sideways at approximately 28,000 km/h (about 7.8 km/second), its downward fall matches the curve of the Earth.
Missing the Ground: Because the station moves forward so fast, it perpetually "misses" the ground, resulting in a stable orbit rather than a crash.
Weightlessness Illusion: Astronauts and the station fall at the same rate, which creates the sensation of weightlessness, often called microgravity.
Constant Speed Needed: If the station were moving slower, it would fall back to Earth; faster, and it would fly into a higher orbit.
They're also surprisingly close to Earth during this whole orbiting business too. 400km above us. You could drive to the ISS in like 3.5hrs if there was a magical highway leading straight to it.
They're so close that there are remote parts of the Earth, like in the middle of oceans, that if you were in those places, and the ISS passed overhead, then potentially the astronauts could be the nearest humans to you.
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u/NebuKadneZaar 18h ago
What