Our friend says tha the primary reason astronauts in orbit feel weightless is that they are beyond the main pull of earths gravity. why do you agree or dissagree?

I agree on that. it's not like there is completely no force of gravity acting on them (I mean if they're still around the earth), it's that it's so little that they can't even notice it. they'll float around and they seems like they have no weight. this is called weightlessness.