People assume that
being on a space station or spaceship means that
you are totally weightless. This is a common
misconception, because even space has something
called microgravity. This minute version of
gravity is the pull you feel between two objects
while you are in space. For example, even though
you are not on the Earth’s surface, there is
still a gravitational pull coming from the Earth
that is extremely strong. There would also be
gravitational forces from the Sun and the Moon,
among others acting on you.
What this means is that even on a space station,
you actually do not weigh that much less than
you would on Earth. The reason people float on a
space station is because of the way the station
orbits the Earth. Technically, the people
onboard are actually in a form of constant free
fall, and the way the station curves around the
Earth during its orbit keeps them floating. This
effect can be replicated with certain airplanes
in our own atmosphere. These planes what they
use to train astronauts.