What is g-force?
Also called: g-load, gs
G-force describes how heavy something feels compared with its normal weight. Sitting still is 1 g. Accelerating hard in a rocket pushes that to several g.
It is not really a force. It is a way of describing acceleration in units of everyday gravity ā 1 g is 9.81 m/sĀ², what you feel standing on the ground.
Crewed launches are deliberately kept to a few g. Astronauts lie on their backs so the load pushes through the chest rather than head-to-foot, which the body tolerates far better because the heart does not have to pump blood uphill against it.
The odd case is orbit, where the reading is close to 0 g. Nothing is pushing back, so nothing feels heavy ā but gravity itself is still nearly as strong as at the surface.
See it happen
Living in SpaceHome among the starsSource: Dragon 2 (Crew Dragon)