Question: Is the fact that there`s no gravity useful in any way?

Charles Laing answered on 18 Jun 2016:

Hi DylanA,

Yes! The lack of gravity can be bad for humans but there is long list of great science that actually works better without gravity to mess things up.

A great example is material science where scientists can better understand how metal behaves when it is being used to make things. On Earth (with gravity) it is difficult to predict how liquid metal can be shaped into something new. Without gravity there is no heat movement in liquids (convection) so it is easier to predict what will happen.

This is helpful for people who use liquid metal to make things on Earth as it can allow them to create things faster and cheaper.

Charlie 🚀