Are astronauts "mass-less" while orbiting the Earth in the shuttle?

Answer 1

I agree with most other answers. Mass and weight are two different things. If you are an astronaut the only time your mass will change is when you eat something or go to the bathroom. Your weight is based on gravity. Obviously you would weigh less on the moon than on earth because the moon has less mass than the earth. But astronauts are not mass-less when they orbit the earth. They are just far away from the gravitational effects of the earth not to be affected by it. Hope this helped clear up some confusion.

Answer 2

Mass is something an astronaut has where ever he is.
His mass is essentially a measure of how many atoms are in his body. His weight at some point is this number multiplied by the strength of gravity at that same point.
That's why you'd weigh less on the moon because you're not being pulled on as much, but your mass will be the same.
In orbit they're actually free-falling, which means they're falling, but since their traveling around the earth so fast that they're actually falling around the earth... it's like spinning a bucket on a string, the string's tension is similar to the Earth's gravitational pull.

Answer 3

The are in "FREE-FALL" and so seem weightless. They certainly have weight and mass. It is just that their weight cannot be measured in the traditional sense. Everything in the shuttle is in free-fall, so if the astronaut tried to weigh him/herself they could not use an ordinary bathroom scale. The scale would be free-falling along with the astronaut, They could however use an inertial balance which would determine the amount of inertia (mass) they possess. using w=mg weight = (mass) x (acceleration of gravity) they could determine their local weight or their weight back on the surface of the earth. g will vary with the height above or below the earth's surface.

Answer 4

No. They are weightless. Weight and mass are not the same thing. One kilogram of mass weighs 9.8 Newtons on Earth and nothing on the orbiting Shuttle. One slug of mass weighs 32 pounds on Earth and nothing on the orbiting Shuttle. But most people who have not studied physics have never heard of slugs or Newtons and they think kilograms are a measure of weight.

Answer 5

No they are not mass-less.
Mass is the quantity of matter.
When the astronauts come into gravity field, the gravity force will drag towards earth and they develop weight.
So Weight is a force and hence Weight=mass x g (acceleration due to gravity)
Mass always remain constant and only the acceleration due to gravity (g) varies to give different weights.

Answer 6

Your mass does not change while in space mass is the measurement of the amount of matter something contains, your weight, on the other hand, depends on gravitational force, that is why you can weigh so little on the moon, yet weigh a ton on Jupiter (if you could actually survive there.) But at the same time, your mass would not change.

Answer 7

No. They are weightless because they are moving at the same rate as the shuttle and hence do not feel weight as you do on the ground. They still have mass, just no weight.

Answer 8

Their mass remains the same m = Wt(on Earth)/g (of Earth).

Their Weight (mass attraction to Earth by gravity, centripetal force) is countered by the centrifigal force due to their revolution around the Earth so they feel weightless.

Answer 9

No. Mass is the amount of stuff a body contains, while weight is the force of gravity pulling down on the mass. So while the astronauts are weightless they still have the same amount of mass that they do on earth. (Its part of Newton's 2nd law).

Answer 10

No. Mass is the same. Only the force of gravity gets weaker because the earth is farther away.