Question: why is there no gravity in space

Rosie Coates answered on 19 Mar 2014:

Well @deannawiggs, there actually IS gravity in space…. In fact there is gravity everywhere. Gravity is the force of attraction between stuff, all kinds of stuff. There is gravitational attraction between us and the earth, the earth and the sun and between entire galaxies. The only way to lessen the force of gravity is to move far enough away from any “stuff”.

The reason astronauts experience a feeling of “zero gravity” when they are in space is because the are actually falling. Let’s take the International space station (or the ISS for short) as an example… The ISS is around 250 miles away from the earth surface and so it still experiences 90% of the gravity that we feel here on the earth’s surface.

The ISS is in an orbit around the earth. This means that it is travelling sideways while being pulled towards the centre of the earth by gravity. The “Zero G” feeling occurs because the ISS, the astronauts, their pens and computers are all falling around the earth with the same acceleration, or at the same speed. This means that the astronauts feel like they, and all of their stuff, are floating.

The reason the the ISS can fall around the earth is that at the same time it is being pulled towards the earth it is also traveling very fast, 17,500 miles per hour to be precise.

If we think about throwing a ball and watching it land, it will travel in an arch and hit the ground. This is essentially what happens with the ISS. When a space shuttle is launched we are throwing the ball. The it accelerates at that magic 17,500 mile per hour and this speed counteracts the pull of gravity and keeps it in an arch that matches the curve of the earths surface so instead of hitting the ground it falls around the earth.

Phew! Complicated!! I learned a lot answering this question @deannawiggs, I hope you enjoy the answer as much as I did writing it!