Does an astronaut feel "motion" when orbiting earth?

Question

You know you're moving in a car because you can see it and you can feel the g-forces when you turn the steering wheel. But can an astronaut in orbit around the earth, feel a sense of motion or feel like he is moving 18,000 mph? Part of me says he should, but the other part says that the scale of distance and the low gravity says he doesn't feel like he's moving at all.

Answer 1

btw, if you are in a car with smooth motion(no friction, no bumps or anything) and constant velocity, you wont feel your are moving. You can see everything moving in the opposite direction of your car but it could actually mean that (with you being stationary, same as the 2 train analogy)

also you can't feel the earth orbiting or rotating, same reason.

Answer 2

no... like how you don't feel like your moving even tough you're orbiting the sun at incredible speeds

Answer 3

he does not it is like being in a plain you feel as if youare one with the object you are on pluss he would be going at a constent speed so he wouldn't feel any exceleration

Answer 4

Nope.

Answer 5

No, he doesn't.  Motion is only felt when there is a change of direction or velocity.  As the astronauts, at least while in orbit, are traveling at a constant speed, they do not feel motion.  When you feel G force as you drive your car round a curve, what you are feeling is the tendency for a body to try to continue in a straight line, which is why you are pushed in the direction of the outside of the curve.  When in orbit, astronauts are actually falling free along a geodesic drawn round the Earth.