In the Stuff Video section July this year there was a heading:
On Saturday, a Russian, an American and an Italian astronaut escaped earth’s gravity to join the International Space Station.
This is not correct, they have not escaped earth’s gravity, they are in orbit around the earth under the control of gravity, travelling at a speed of approximately 28,000 km/s. At this speed centripetal force balances gravity to maintain the orbit.
To escape the earth one needs to attain escape velocity, which is approximately 40,200 km/s. However even this doesn’t escape the force of gravity, it’s just one is going fast enough not to be pulled back to earth by it.