A Laboratory in Free Fall
On January 22, 1992, Space Shuttle Discovery lifted off with a laboratory inside and seven astronauts aboard. Among them was Roberta Bondar, the first Canadian woman in space. During the STS-42 mission, Bondar and her crewmates worked on experiments in a setting that is difficult to create on Earth: a laboratory in microgravity.
A floating object might seem to show that there is no gravity in space. In fact, Earth’s gravity still pulls strongly on a shuttle in orbit. The shuttle and everything inside it are continually falling toward Earth. Because the shuttle also travels forward at great speed, it keeps falling around Earth instead of straight down to the ground. The astronauts and their equipment fall along with it, so they appear to float.
This condition is called microgravity because the effects of gravity are greatly reduced, though not completely absent. Imagine a Canadian astronaut working at a shuttle laboratory station while a small object floats nearby. She would need to secure her tools so they would not drift away. She would also need to handle liquids carefully: instead of settling neatly at the bottom of a container, liquid can form floating blobs.
- orbit:
- The path an object follows around another object in space.
- secure:
- To fasten or hold something so it does not move away.
- fluids:
- Substances, such as liquids or gases, that can flow.
- seedlings:
- Young plants that have recently grown from seeds.
- factors:
- Things that can affect a result.
- procedures:
- Established steps for carrying out a task.
- automatically:
- In a way that works without someone directly controlling each step.
- temporary:
- Lasting for a limited time.
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Preview questions from this passageShowHide
- 11. Why do astronauts appear to float even though Earth’s gravity still pulls on the shuttle?
- 22. How can the same conditions that make a shuttle laboratory difficult to work in also make it valuable for research?
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About this explanatory article passage for 6th Grade
“A Laboratory in Free Fall” is a explanatory article reading passage about Microgravity research, written for 6th Grade. It takes about 3 minutes to read (499 words) and comes with an interactive quiz and a printable worksheet with comprehension questions and an answer key.