If a traveler in a spacecraft orbiting the Earth releases an object from hishand, it remaisn stationary and appears to be in a state of weightlessness. Does this mean there is no force of gravity acting on the object?

If a traveler in a spacecraft orbiting the Earth releases an object fr

1.	If a traveler in a spacecraft orbiting the Earth releases an object from hishand, it remaisn stationary and appears to be in a state of weightlessness. Does this mean there is no force of gravity acting on the object?
Answer» Solution :i. No, there is a force of GRAVITY acting on the body. Though the spacecraft is at a height from the SURFACE of the earth, the value of g there is not zero, but only 11% less than its value on the surface of the earth. ii. Thus, the weightlessness is not caused by the height of the satellite but by beign in a state of free fall. Though teh sapcecraft is not falling on the earth because of its velocity along the orbit, the only force acting on it is the gravitational force of the eath and therefore it is in a state of free fall. (iii) As the velocity of free fall does not depend on the properties of an object, itis the same for the spacecraft, the travellers and the object in the CRAFT. iv. Thus, if a traveller releases an object from his hand, it will remain STATIONARY with respect to him and will appear to be WEIGHTLESS.