Believe it or not- Everything you see in this frame is falling. 😅
When I first reached the International Space Station, I had this strange hesitation: if I let go of something, won’t it just fall? On Earth, that’s exactly what happens. In space, though, my early instinct was to politely hand over items to crew-mates (one of them is quietly smirking in the background at my dismal lens changing skills 😅) instead of just releasing them. The funny part? They were just as cautious at first—so we ended up passing things around like an overly careful game of “hot potato.”
Here’s the catch: nothing actually falls away in orbit. As you see in this video if I let go of the lens, it doesn’t drop—it hovers. Why? Because both the lens and I are falling at the same speed around Earth. No relative falling = no “down.”
This idea goes all the way back to Isaac Newton’s legendary thought experiment: imagine standing on a tall mountain and throwing a ball. Toss it gently—it arcs down nearby. Throw harder—it travels farther before dropping. Throw it so fast that as it falls, Earth’s surface curves away beneath it? The rate of drop matches the curvature of the Earth. Congratulations—you’ve just put that ball in orbit. It’s falling forever, but it never hits the ground.
That’s what orbit really is: perpetual free fall. Astronauts don’t feel weightless because gravity has disappeared—gravity up here is still about 90% as strong as at Earth’s surface. We feel weightless because we and everything around us are constantly falling together.
Floating in space is really just falling—forever. 🌍✨
#shux #iss #space #shubhanshushukla #isro #axiom4 #newton #tiborkapu
I’m convinced that everyone should take a big swing at some point in their life and experience what it’s like to truly go all in on a meaningful pursuit otherwise they grow bitter with age.
What a privilege to be tired from work you once begged the universe for. what a privilege to feel overwhelmed by growth you used to dream about. what a privilege to be challenged by a life you created on purpose. What a privilege to outgrow things you used to settle for.
You stayed clean for 3 weeks. You meditated. You journaled. You felt okay. Then you slipped. Not because you’re weak, but because your neurons hadn’t built enough insulation yet. The wires sparked under stress. Keep repeating. Plasticity takes time.