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Funny you should ask, I was wondering the same thing, so I did a little research and this is what I learned.
The answer is it’s falling all the time. Huh, what??
Here’s what’s going on. Let’s say we have a cannon and we can put any amount of gunpowder in it and shoot a cannon ball as fast as we want. We take it to the top of an impossibly high mountain, to get away from the drag of the atmosphere, make sure it’s level and fire it. There are two forces acting on the cannon ball, the straight-out force given to it by the cannon and the downward force of gravity. The result of these two forces is a downward curve. If we use more powder and shoot the ball faster it will travel farther before hitting the ground. If we fired the cannon ball at the right velocity, it wouldn’t hit the ground at all because the result of its forward motion and downward motion is a curve that matches the curve of the Earth. Our cannon ball would fall around and around the Earth because the ground is falling away at the same rate as it is falling, so it just keeps missing the ground.
The International Space Station’s velocity is about 17,000 miles per hour at a height of about 200 miles. At that speed and altitude its path or orbit is a curve that matches the curve of the Earth, so it is falling and falling and falling around the Earth and so is everybody and everything inside, even those M&M’s they try to catch in their mouths.
The answer is it’s falling all the time. Huh, what??
Here’s what’s going on. Let’s say we have a cannon and we can put any amount of gunpowder in it and shoot a cannon ball as fast as we want. We take it to the top of an impossibly high mountain, to get away from the drag of the atmosphere, make sure it’s level and fire it. There are two forces acting on the cannon ball, the straight-out force given to it by the cannon and the downward force of gravity. The result of these two forces is a downward curve. If we use more powder and shoot the ball faster it will travel farther before hitting the ground. If we fired the cannon ball at the right velocity, it wouldn’t hit the ground at all because the result of its forward motion and downward motion is a curve that matches the curve of the Earth. Our cannon ball would fall around and around the Earth because the ground is falling away at the same rate as it is falling, so it just keeps missing the ground.
The International Space Station’s velocity is about 17,000 miles per hour at a height of about 200 miles. At that speed and altitude its path or orbit is a curve that matches the curve of the Earth, so it is falling and falling and falling around the Earth and so is everybody and everything inside, even those M&M’s they try to catch in their mouths.
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