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Here is the sentence that confused me
The work helped keep calcium in his bones in spite of free fall.
It comes from https://www.reddit.com/r/HFY/comments/976wsz/the_road_not_taken_part_2/
I know, "free fall" means an occasion when something or someone falls quickly under the influence of gravity
But, what does it mean in the sentence?
Did he fall?
Does it mean that this work helped keep calcium in his bones in spite of his fall?
Thankyou for providing the link to the orginal, without it the sentence is unclear.
It concerns an astronaut, in orbit (around then sun, on a voyage to Mars). When you are orbiting, you are actually in free-fall. This is scientific fact rather than an English idiom.
So "free-fall" here refers to the period that the astronaut spent in orbit. It is known that in the "weightless" conditions of free fall, your bones get weaker. Astronauts need to do exercise to maintain bone strength.
