Weightlessness

The astronaut was slow to get used to the condition of weightlessness.

As the ISS orbits the Earth, both the vehicle and crew members are in a constant state of free-fall causing astronauts to experience a feeling of weightlessness.

Watching astronauts float in the weightlessness of space may look like a lot of fun, but scientists have found that such an environment can also have negative physical and psychological effects on humans.

The rocket rose higher and higher. For five minutes, Alan Shepard felt the weightlessness of space. He felt himself floating. Freedom Seven flew one hundred eighty-five kilometers high. Then it re-entered the atmosphere and the spacecraft slowed. The fifteen-minute flight ended with a soft splash into the ocean about five hundred kilometers from Cape Canaveral.

He also co-founded a company that offers the experience of weightlessness aboard a specially outfitted aircraft.

The weightlessness in space can be disorienting for new astronauts.