What's It Like Inside the Space Station During a Re-boost?

By Nancy Atkinson - October 27, 2011 05:46 PM UTC | Space Exploration

Ever wonder what it would be like on board the Starship Enterprise when Capt. Kirk commands Mr. Sulu to fire the thrusters, only to have the artificial gravity turn off at the same time? We've got our own 21st century equivalent of a big spaceship -- the International Space Station -- firing its thrusters in order to stay in a good orbit around Earth. And since we haven't invented artificial gravity yet, you can see what happens. In the video are Expedition 29 Commander Mike Fossum and Flight Engineers Satoshi Furukawa and Sergei Volkov, demonstrating what it is like to experience the acceleration from firing the thrusters.

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Nancy Atkinson

Nancy Atkinson is a space journalist and author with a passion for telling the stories of people involved in space exploration and astronomy. She is currently retired from daily writing, but worked at Universe Today for 20 years as a writer and editor. She also contributed articles to The Planetary Society, Ad Astra (National Space Society), New Scientist and many other online outlets.

Her 2019 book, "Eight Years to the Moon: The History of the Apollo Missions,” shares the untold stories of engineers and scientists who worked behind the scenes to make the Apollo program so successful, despite the daunting odds against it. Her first book “Incredible Stories From Space: A Behind-the-Scenes Look at the Missions Changing Our View of the Cosmos” (2016) tells the stories of 37 scientists and engineers that work on several current NASA robotic missions to explore the solar system and beyond.

Nancy is also a NASA/JPL Solar System Ambassador, and through this program, she has the opportunity to share her passion of space and astronomy with children and adults through presentations and programs. Nancy's personal website is nancyatkinson.com