SINCE 1828
microgravity
noun
mi·cro·grav·i·ty
| \ -ˈgra-və-tē
\
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Definition of microgravity
: a condition in space in which only minuscule forces are experienced : virtual absence of gravity
broadly
: a condition of weightlessness
Examples of microgravity in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
The ascent proceeded normally until the separation of one of the rocket's booster stages, by which point the crew had already experienced microgravity. — Eric Berger, Ars Technica, "A Soyuz crew makes an emergency landing after rocket fails," 11 Oct. 2018 Outside of the many experiments performed on the International Space Station, scientists all over the world perform bed-rest studies to better understand how people's bodies react to extended periods of microgravity. — Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, "Touring Where the Mars-500 'Astronauts' Pretended to Take a Red Planet Journey," 11 July 2018 One will measure the electromagnetic fields surrounding the New Shepard vehicle during flight, while another will test out how to measure rocket fuel in microgravity. — Loren Grush, The Verge, "How to watch four rocket launches on a banner day for the space industry," 18 Dec. 2018 More recent microgravity experiments have determined enzymes that control the sperm’s movement suffered delays, suggesting that the lack of gravity was biochemically changing the little guys’ behavior. — Joe Pappalardo, Popular Mechanics, "Why There Are Sperm Swimming Around at the Space Station," 16 July 2018 Back in 1988, bull sperm was put into sounding rockets and blasted into the air to see how the sperm would react in microgravity. — Elly Belle, Teen Vogue, "Scientists Are Studying How Sperm Functions in Space," 17 July 2018 Soaring to Sirius The next set of missions, called Sirius, will examine how people behave in microgravity, Voloshin said. — Elizabeth Howell, Space.com, "Touring Where the Mars-500 'Astronauts' Pretended to Take a Red Planet Journey," 11 July 2018 In a near vacuum, some metals fuse together, while that same vacuum can vaporize the kinds of lubricants found inside conventional weapons. Weapons-makers must account for microgravity when considering things like recoil. — John Wenz, Popular Mechanics, "The Pentagon's Far-Out 1950s Dreams of Space Guns," 10 Nov. 2015 His year in space will show the effects of microgravity on the human body over a long period, helping scientists better understand some of the potential issues with a Mars mission. — John Wenz, Popular Mechanics, "Scott Kelly's Year-Long ISS Mission Has Officially Begun," 27 Mar. 2015These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'microgravity.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
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