List of common misconceptions about science, technology, and mathematics

Each entry on this list of common misconceptions is worded as a correction; the misconceptions themselves are implied rather than stated. These entries are concise summaries; the main subject articles can be consulted for more detail.

Astronomy and spaceflight

There is no scientific evidence that the motion of stars, planets, and other celestial bodies influences the fates of humans, and astrology has repeatedly been shown to have no explanatory power in predicting future events.

Astronauts in orbit have the sensation of being weightless because they are in free fall around the Earth, not because they are so far away from the Earth that its gravitational pull is negligible. For example, on the International Space Station the Earth's gravity is nearly 90% as strong as at the surface. Objects orbiting in space would not remain in orbit if not for the gravitational force, and gravitational fields extend infinitely, though the strength of the gravitational force is attenuated with distance. There is no limit to the distance across which two objects exert gravitational forces upon one another.

The dark side of the Moon receives about the same amount of light from the Sun as the near side. Since the same side of the Moon always faces the Earth due to tidal locking, the far side had not been seen until Luna 3 photographed it in 1959. Hence, "dark" refers to the far side being unseen from Earth, not to any lack of illumination by the Sun.