RHETT ALLAIN SCIENCE JAN 28, 2018 8:00 AM

Yes, There Is Gravity in Space

Movies and TV shows often assume that no air = no gravity. Here's the
way it actually works.

Astronauts might float in space, but that doesn’t mean gravity doesn’t exist up there. NASA

SAVE
THIS WEEK, I settled down to watch the first episode of The 100. If you haven't
seen the show, I'll just point out that it takes place in the near future (though it
ran, on the CW, in the near past). For reasons that I won't get into, there is a
spacecraft with a bunch of teenagers that is traveling from a space station
down to the surface of the Earth. During the reentry process, one kid wants to
show that he is the master of space travel and that he's awesome. So what
does he do? He gets out of his seat and floats around as a demonstration of
his mastery of weightlessness. Another teenager points out that he's being
pretty dumb—and that he's going to get hurt very soon.

OK, that is enough of the description of the scene so that we can talk about
physics. The point is that there is one dude "floating" around in the spacecraft
during reentry.

Before I over-analyze this short scene, let me add a caveat about my

philosophy on science and stories. I've talked about this before, so I'll just give
a summary: The number one job for a writer of a show is to tell a story. If the
writer distorts science in order to make the plot move along—so be it.
However, if the science could be correct without destroying the plot, then
obviously I'd prefer it.

On to the over-analysis!

What Causes Gravity?

Obviously this scene has to do with gravity, so we should talk about gravity—
right? In short, gravity is a fundamental interaction between objects with mass.
Yes, any two objects that have mass will have a gravitational force pulling
them together. The magnitude of this gravitational force depends on the
distance between the objects. The further apart the objects get, the weaker the
gravitational force. The magnitude of this force also depends on the masses of
the two objects. Greater mass means a greater force. As an equation, this
would be written as:
In this equation, the masses are described by the variables m1 and m2 and the
distance between the objects is the variable r. But the most important thing is
the constant G—this is the universal gravitational constant and it has a value
of 6.67 x 10-11 Nm2/kg22. That might seem like it's important, so let me give an
example that everyone can relate to. Suppose you are standing somewhere
and your friend is right there with you and you two are having a conversation.
Since you both have mass, there is a gravitational force pulling the two of you
together. Using rough approximations for distance and mass, I get an
attractive force of 3 x 10-7 Newtons. Just to put that into perspective, this value
is fairly close to the force you would feel if you put a grain of salt on your head
(yes, I have an approximate value for the mass of one grain of salt).

So, the gravitational force is super tiny. The only way we ever notice this force
is if one of the interacting objects has a super huge mass—something like the
mass of the Earth (5.97 x 1024 kg). If you replace your friend with the Earth
and put the distance between you and your friend-Earth as the radius of the
Earth, then you get a gravitational force of something like 680 Newtons—and
that is a force you can feel (and you do).

Is There Gravity in Space?

Now for the real question. Why do astronauts float around in space unless
there is no gravity? It sure seems like there is no gravity in space—it's even
referred to as "zero gravity." OK, I've answered this before, but it's important
enough to revisit the question.

The short answer is "yes"—there is gravity in space. Look back at the

gravitational equation above. What changes in that equation as you move from
the surface of the Earth into space? The only difference is the distance
between you and the center of the Earth (the r). So as the distance increases,
the gravitational force decreases—but by how much does the gravitational
force change? How about a quick estimation?

Let's use an Earth radius of 6.371 x 106 meters. With this value, a person with
a mass of 70 kg would have a gravitational force of 686.7 Newtons. Now
moving up to the orbital height of the International Space Station, you would
be an extra 400 km farther from the center. Recalculating with this greater
distance, I get a weight of 608 Newtons. This is about 88 percent the value on
the surface of the Earth (you can check all my calculations here). But you can
see there is clearly gravity in space.

Oh, here is some extra evidence. Why does the moon orbit the Earth? The
answer: gravity. Why does the Earth orbit the Sun? Yup, it's gravity. In both of
these cases, there is a significant distance between the two interacting objects
—but gravity still "works," even in space.
But why do astronauts float around in space? Well, they float around when in
orbit—if there was a super tall tower reaching into space, they wouldn't float
around. The "weightless" environment is caused by the orbital motion of the
people inside a spacecraft or space station. Here is the real deal. If the only
force acting on a human is the gravitational force, that human feels weightless.
Standing on a tall tower would result in two forces (gravity pulling down and
the tower pushing up). In orbit, there is only the gravitational force—leading to
that feeling of weightlessness.

Actually, you don't even need to be in orbit to feel weightless. You can be
weightless by having the gravitational force as the only thing acting on you.
Here is a situation for you to consider. Suppose you are standing in a
stationary elevator at the top of a building. Since you are at rest, the total force
must be zero—that means the downward gravitational force pulling down is
balanced by the upward pushing force from the floor. Now remove the force
from the floor. Yes, this is difficult but it can be accomplished. Just have the
elevator accelerate down with the same acceleration as a free falling object.
Now you will be falling inside an elevator. The only force is gravity and you will
be weightless.

Some people think this falling elevator is fun. That's why many amusement
parks have a ride like The Tower of Terror. Basically, you get in a car that
drops off a tower. During the fall, you feel weightless—but you don't crash at
the bottom. Instead, the car is on a track that somehow slows down more
gradually than if it smashed into the ground. They have one of these types of
rides at the NASA center in Huntsville. went on this with my kids—it was
actually scarier than I had imagined.

How about another example? If you are in an airplane and the plane flies with
a downward acceleration, everyone inside will be weightless. Even a dog.
Check it out.
 Dog Goes Weightless In Airplane with Zero Gravity

In the end, there seems to be huge misunderstanding about gravity. I believe

the reasoning follows like so: Astronauts are weightless in space. There is no
air in space. Therefore, if there is no air, there is no gravity. This no-air/no-
gravity idea pops up all the time in movies (incorrectly so).

Here's how you'll see it: Some dude is floating around in space (that's OK) and
then he enters the airlock of a spacecraft, still floating. The airlock door shuts
and air is pumped into the chamber and boom—he falls to the ground because
now there's gravity.

Here is what it should look like—from the epic movie 2001: A Space Odyssey.
SPOILER ALERT: Hal is crazy and won't open the pod-bay doors. Not even for
Dave.
 2001 - explosive bolts

Wow. That scene is pretty much perfect. They even have no sound until the air
comes in.

What Happens During Reentry?

Now back to the events in The 100. The scene doesn't take place in orbit, it
occurs during reentry. This is the part where the spacecraft enters back into
the atmosphere and encounters an air resistance force (because there is air).
Let me start with a simple force diagram showing the spacecraft at some point
during this motion.
Clearly, this not weightless. Yes, there is a gravitational force acting on
everything—but there is also that air drag force that will make the spacecraft
slow down as it moves down. If the human is going to stay inside the
spacecraft, there must also be an extra force on that human (from the floor).
So, not weightless—in fact, the human would feel more than normal gravity
because of the acceleration. You already know this, though, because the exact
same thing happens to you in an elevator. As the elevator is moving down and
coming to a stop, it is also slowing down. During this time, you would feel a
little bit heavier because of the force from the floor pushing on you. You aren't
really heavier, you just feel that way because of the acceleration.

Again, there is another movie example where someone gets this reentry
physics right. It's from Apollo 13. Check it out.
 Apollo 13 Arrives Safely Home

Notice the water falling from the ceiling. In this case, the capsule is moving
downward at an angle. However, the air resistance force is pushing in the
opposite direction of motion causing the spacecraft to slow down. But what
slows down the water? The water does cling to the surface a little bit—but the
acceleration is too much to keep it there and it "falls" towards the astronaut.
Note that "falling" here doesn't mean straight towards the surface of the Earth
but rather just in the opposite direction as the acceleration.

Looking back at the scene from The 100, here's how they could fix the scene
—and it's pretty simple. Have the bold floating guy move around before they
get to reentry. Then the other guys fall as soon as the spacecraft starts to
interact with the atmosphere. That wouldn't even change the plot—and it
would be more scientifically accurate.

Rhett Allain is an associate professor of physics at Southeastern Louisiana University. He

enjoys teaching and talking about physics. Sometimes he takes things apart and can't put
them back together.
CONTRIBUTOR

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