Everything in Space Is Falling: Orbit as Free Fall

2 min read

Astronauts float because they and the station fall together. So does everything else.

The station

The International Space Station orbits about 400 km up. It goes around Earth in about 90 minutes, roughly 16 times a day.

Gravity is on

At that height gravity is still about 90 percent as strong as on the ground. The station is not beyond gravity at all.

So why float?

Astronauts float because they and the station fall at the same rate. Nothing pushes back on their feet. That is weightlessness.

Newton’s cannon

Isaac Newton pictured a cannon on a mountain. Fire faster and the ball lands farther away. Fire fast enough and it never lands.

The trick

The station moves sideways at about 7.66 km/s. As it falls, the ground curves away beneath it just as fast. It keeps missing.

Related“Many Rooms”: What John 14:2 Actually Says About Space in Heaven

That is an orbit

An orbit is continuous free fall. NASA says it plainly: the station is falling around Earth all the time.

The Moon too

The Moon falls toward Earth too, at about 1 km/s sideways. It has been missing us for billions of years.

Earth too

Earth falls around the Sun at about 29.78 km/s. You are in free fall right now. The ground just falls with you.

The Sun too

The Sun falls around the center of the Milky Way at about 230 km/s, carrying every planet with it.

No still place

There is no fixed floor in space. Everything is moving, and everything is falling around something heavier.

Why it feels still

You feel weight on Earth because the ground pushes up on you. In orbit, nothing does, so you feel the fall.

A free-falling universe

From the station to the galaxy, motion is the normal state. Stillness is the illusion.

Anthony’s lesson

If everything is falling, standing still is not an option. Your choice is the direction and the speed.

Sideways wins

Orbit teaches that you stay up by moving forward fast enough. Momentum is what keeps you from crashing.

The takeaway

Keep moving forward. That is how the station stays up, and how a name stays alive.

First principles

Gravity never switches off. Floating means falling together. Forward speed is what keeps you up.

Sources

• NASA, “What Is an Orbit?” nasa.gov.
• NASA, International Space Station facts and figures.
• I. Newton, A Treatise of the System of the World (1728), cannon thought experiment.
• NASA Planetary Fact Sheet, Moon and Earth orbital speeds.
• Wikipedia, “Galactic year.”

Part of Is There Room for You? The Heaven Room series.

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Anthony Perlas · nightlifereport.app

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