weightlessness

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weightlessness

The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition | 2008 | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright 2008 Columbia University Press. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

weightlessness the absence of any observable effects of gravitation . This condition is experienced by an observer when he and his immediate surroundings are allowed to move freely in the local gravitational field . All bodies in the weightless environment experience the same acceleration. The more massive bodies (see mass ) in the surroundings experience a stronger gravitational force, but they also have more inertia , or resistance to acceleration. As seen by a stationary outside observer, they appear to move together without any constraint. To the observer being accelerated, objects appear to float freely in space and to move with uniform speed in a straight line when given a push. Three examples of situations where weightlessness is encountered are: (1) an elevator falling freely in a vacuum; (2) a space capsule orbiting the earth; (3) a spacecraft drifting in outer space with its engines off.

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weightlessness

World Encyclopedia | 2005 | © World Encyclopedia 2005, originally published by Oxford University Press 2005. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

weightlessness Condition experienced by an object on which the force due to gravitation is neutralized. Such an object is said to have zero gravity and no weight; it floats and cannot fall. Weightlessness can be experienced in space and during free fall. The adverse effects on the human body of prolonged weightlessness (called hydrogravics) include decreased circulation of blood, less water retention in tissues and the bloodstream, and loss of muscle tone.

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weightlessness

The Oxford Companion to the Body | 2001 | | © The Oxford Companion to the Body 2001, originally published by Oxford University Press 2001. (Hide copyright information) Copyright

weightlessness The condition in which a mass possesses no weight, as in the absence of gravitational or accelerative forces, or when the vector sum of opposing forces or fields acting upon it is zero. The state is produced during space flight when the accelerative force due to gravity is exactly balanced by the tangential and inertial forces associated with the motion of the spacecraft through space.

Weightlessness — or microgravity, as it is frequently termed — has major effects on the movement of man in space and upon his physiology. The condition can be produced for only very short periods of time on earth. It exists during the initial stages of free fall through the atmosphere and can be generated for 12–40 second during parabolic flight in an aircraft.

John Ernsting


See flying; G and G-suits; space travel.
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COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "weightlessness." The Oxford Companion to the Body. Oxford University Press. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. 15 Nov. 2009 <http://www.encyclopedia.com>.

COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "weightlessness." The Oxford Companion to the Body. Oxford University Press. 2001. Encyclopedia.com. (November 15, 2009). http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O128-weightlessness.html

COLIN BLAKEMORE and SHELIA JENNETT. "weightlessness." The Oxford Companion to the Body. Oxford University Press. 2001. Retrieved November 15, 2009 from Encyclopedia.com: http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O128-weightlessness.html

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Free newspaper and magazine articles

Free Article Weightlessness achieved. (Democratic presidential candidates)
Magazine article from: National Review; 4/15/1988
Free Article Hawking: Weightlessness Will Be 'Bliss'
News Wire article from: AP Online; 4/25/2007
Free Article Forces of space non-holonomity as the necessary condition for motion of space bodies.
Magazine article from: Progress in Physics; 4/1/2007

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