Gravity's Game of Tag
How the ISS Zips Around Earth at Lightning Speed!
Sure thing! Imagine the International Space Station (ISS) as a cosmic race car speeding around Earth’s track at a whopping 28,000 kilometers per hour (that’s over 17,000 mph!). It's like it's playing an endless game of "tag" with gravity. Gravity is constantly pulling the ISS toward Earth, but it's moving so fast forward that it keeps missing the ground—so instead of falling, it keeps zipping around in a giant circle.
It’s like when you throw a baseball so fast that instead of landing, it magically keeps curving around the entire planet! This delicate balance of speed and gravity makes the ISS a full-time Earth camper, looping around our planet 16 times a day—meaning astronauts get to see 16 sunrises and sunsets every 24 hours. Now that’s a fast-paced adventure in Earth's orbit!