Myth Buster

There is no gravity in space

By: Abigail Ray - Researcher

You might have heard that there is no gravity in space—but is that true? What does gravity mean, and why would there be gravity in space?

Gravity is the attraction of mass to mass. All masses have a gravitational pull on each other, which is known as gravity. Gravity is what’s keeping you on the ground right now as you’re reading this. But how does that relate to gravity in space?

Gravity exists everywhere in the universe because it is a fundamental force between all objects with mass. Even in space, where objects are often far apart, the gravitational pull still exists between them—though it weakens with greater distance. The nature of gravity is what causes planets, stars, and galaxies to interact and maintain their orbits.

You (a small piece of mass) are being pulled towards the Earth (a larger mass). We can use that same comparison with the Earth and the Sun. The Earth (a relatively smaller mass) is being pulled towards the Sun (a much larger mass). If there were no gravity pulling us toward Earth, we would all float off into space. Similarly, if the Earth had no gravity pulling it toward the Sun, it would drift away into space.