08. Is it hard to adapt to floating? Is it cumbersome and hard to get around? (A K2S Question)

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Can you get around by practically swimming through the air or do you get around by pulling yourself along the insides of the spaceship? Is it like flying like a bird or swimming like a fish, or both?

It is not hard to adapt to floating, over a period of a day or so, since your body really adapts to weightlessness. It is very easy to move around. In fact, with three dimensions instead of two in which to move, there seems to be a lot more room in the spacecraft than when we trained on Earth. You cannot swim because the air has very little resistance, unlike water. You pull yourself from point to point by using your arms and pulling on the structure to get you moving in the correct direction, and then you float to where you want to go. It's really like flying, not like swimming.


Answer provided by Byron Lichtenberg, Ph.D.


Image:K2S logosmall.jpg Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer