Hey there! Have you ever dreamed of going to the moon? I have a globe of the moon, and I’ve always thought it would be amazing to visit. When I was younger, I watched videos of astronauts landing on the moon. They even drove a car on its surface! How cool is that?
Someone named Bobby asked a great question: What would it be like to live on the moon? It’s been a long time since anyone has visited the moon. The last time was in 1972! But now, there’s exciting news. A company called SpaceX plans to send a tourist named Yusaka Maezawa to circle around the moon. He won’t land, but he’ll see amazing views of the moon’s craters and watch the Earth rise in the distance. Imagine that!
In the future, other companies might even build small cities on the moon. Maybe one day, you could visit or even live there. But what would that be like?
Living on the moon would be very different from living on Earth. The longest any astronaut has stayed on the moon is three days. They had to wear spacesuits all the time because the moon has no air. If you lived there, you’d need a special house filled with air to breathe.
The sky on the moon is always black, even when the sun is shining. If you wanted to go outside, you’d need a spacesuit. The suit would protect you from the sun’s heat, which can be as hot as an oven—over 200 degrees! Spacesuits are made from materials like oven mitts to keep astronauts safe.
Check out how astronauts move on the moon! The moon has less gravity than Earth, about six times less. This means you wouldn’t float away, but you’d bounce around like a bunny when you walk. With less gravity, you could even pick up heavy things more easily. Imagine picking up a big rock and throwing it with one hand!
Living on the moon would be an adventure like no other. With new plans for space travel, you might get the chance to visit one day. Would you go?
Thanks for the great question, Bobby! Stay curious, and keep exploring the mysteries around us. See you next time!
Moon Gravity Experiment: Let’s explore how gravity on the moon is different from Earth! Find a small ball and a larger ball. Drop them both from the same height at the same time. Watch how they fall to the ground. Now, imagine if you were on the moon, where gravity is much weaker. Discuss with a friend or family member how you think the balls would fall differently on the moon. Try jumping up and down and imagine how high you could jump on the moon!
Create Your Own Moon Habitat: Use materials like cardboard boxes, plastic bottles, and paper to design a model of a house you would live in on the moon. Think about what you would need to survive, like air, food, and protection from the sun. Draw or build your moon habitat and explain to someone why you included certain features. How would you make it comfortable and safe?
Moon Observation Journal: Spend a week observing the moon each night. Draw what you see in a journal. Notice how the moon changes shape and position in the sky. Write down any questions you have about the moon. At the end of the week, share your observations and questions with your class or family. What did you learn about the moon’s phases and movement?
**Sanitized Transcript:**
(tinkling) – Hi, it’s Doug. I’ve got my globe of the moon here. I’ve always dreamt of going to the moon. When I was growing up, it hadn’t been that long since human beings had actually landed on the moon. I remember seeing old footage of NASA astronauts as they landed on its surface, even seeing video from one of their missions where they took a car up to the moon and drove it around. Look at that! I would love to do something like this. Someone named Bobby has a question about the moon. Let’s give him a call now.
(tinkling) – Hi, Doug. – Hi, Bobby. – I have that question for you. What would it be like to live on the moon? – That’s a great question. Going to the moon was something I always dreamed about. But we actually stopped going to the moon even before I was born. 1972 was the last year anyone went. Now, it’s getting to be a long time since any human being has been there. But there’s new hope. A rocket company called SpaceX has announced their plans to send the first tourist to the moon, someone who’s going not because he’s a trained astronaut on a science mission, but just as a vacation, a visit to see what it’s like. His name is Yusaka Maezawa. He won’t actually land on the moon; he’ll just get to circle around it. But still, it’ll be an amazing trip. Think of the views he’ll be able to see, looking down and seeing the moon’s craters up close, looking up and watching the Earth rise in the distance. It’ll be incredible. Other rocket companies have plans in the future to even build some kind of small city or colony on the moon. More and more, it seems like it might be possible that, in your life, you could get a chance to go, maybe even live on the moon. What would that be like? Now would be a good time to pause the video and discuss. Okay, you ready?
Living on the moon would be unlike any experience you could have here on Earth. The longest any NASA astronaut stayed on the moon was three days. But even for just that short a stay, they had to constantly wear a space suit when walking around. That’s because the moon has no air. So if you were going to live there, you might have to live in a house like this and keep the inside of it filled with air. The views out your window would be so strange because, with no air, that means the sky is as black as outer space even when the sun is out. If you did want to go outside, you’d need a spacesuit because, not only would you need to keep a tank of oxygen with you, but the spacesuit would protect you from the boiling hot temperature of the sun’s rays. When it’s daytime on the moon, astronauts found out that the temperature on the surface reaches over 200 degrees. That’s as hot as an oven. Spacesuits are made of a material that’s similar to an oven mitt you might find in a kitchen. They protect you from extreme heat. It would probably be a pain to put on a spacesuit every time you wanted to go outside, but it’d be worth it.
Check out this video of NASA astronauts when they were on the moon. You see, the moon has less gravity than the Earth, about six times less gravity. So there’s enough gravity to keep you from floating off into space, but when you walk, you bounce around. This is them trying to walk, and they look kind of like bunnies hopping. Less gravity also means something really interesting. It would be easier to pick up heavy things. They don’t pull you down so much. So, if you wanted to, you could pick up a rock like this big and throw it with one hand.
So, in summary, living on the moon would be totally unlike living on Earth. New announcements about space travel mean there’s a real chance that you could actually get to visit the moon one day. Would you go? That’s all for this week’s question. Thanks, Bobby, for asking it. Now, for the next episode, we’ll return to the same questions that we picked out last week. If you haven’t had a chance to vote, you can choose from: how does a compass know which way is north, why do people from England sound different than people from America, or how does toothpaste clean your teeth? So submit your vote when the video is over. I want to hear from all of you watching. There are mysteries all around us. Stay curious, and see you next week.
