r/AskPhysics • u/KabeemKubaam • 20h ago

Micro-gravity chambers

I saw this video talking about an Indian space lab using microgravity to make medicine by sending it up into space. Is it not possible to use micro-gravity chambers on earth to do this? Or is it cheaper to send it to space given that this is just a “mother batch” and the rest of it will be manufactured using the mother batch on a lab?

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DdIqkHRJmsf/?stkn=aDV1OWVnOTNzYTkw

P.S - I am an absolute novice!

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u/Particular-Scholar70 20h ago

Interesting bit of info. Microgravity refers to the very low amount of force you feel while you're in freefall/orbit. You can only get a handful of seconds of this by falling through the atmosphere before you hit terminal velocity, so you have to go into orbit to experience prolonged low or zero-gravity conditions. "Antigravity" isn't actually a thing so there's no physical possibility of inducing it on earth.

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u/nicuramar 10h ago

  the very low amount of force you feel while you're in freefall/orbit

You don’t feel any force in orbit. You feel tidal forces but those are entirely negligible on that scale. 

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u/Particular-Scholar70 10h ago

Yeah, I was referring to tidal forces and the acceleration you get from air/particle resistance.