A Weighty Subject

I’m watching San Francisco play New England when a Toyota Tundra commercial comes on the TV. The commercial shows a space shuttle orbiting high above the planet and an announcer says, “In space, the shuttle Endeavour is practically weightless.” Immediately, I shout at the TV, “What? No it’s not!”

Okay, I didn’t really shout at the TV, but I did mutter emphatically.

When the shuttle is orbiting the planet, it certainly is not weightless. Nor are the passengers inside the shuttle weightless. They feel like they’re weightless because they’re falling at the same speed as the shuttle they are in. It’s like being inside an elevator when the elevator cable breaks. You may feel like you’re suddenly weightless but in reality you are accelerating downward at the same rate as the elevator because of your weight. You might find yourself floating gently off the floor of the elevator as if you were weightless. However, the illusion of weightlessness will end at the bottom of the elevator shaft.

You see, a space shuttle in orbit – or anything in orbit – is actually falling toward the planet. But its great speed parallel to the planet’s surface results in the earth curving away at the same rate as the shuttle is falling. If the shuttle really was somehow made instantaneously weightless while in orbit, it would cease orbiting the planet and fly off  into space on a trajectory tangent to its previous orbital path. It’s the shuttle’s weight that keeps it in orbit around the earth.

San Francisco is up 17 to 3. I don’t even care, I’m a Redskins fan. And that’s why I was rooting for Philadelphia to beat the Cowboys earlier today. Because if the Cowboys lost that would mean the Redskins would tie with the Giants for first place in the NFC East. But because Philadelphia lost to the Cowboys, the Redskins are in a 3-way tie for first place in their division. It’s simple, really. Like gravity and weight.