What Is the Moon Like Up Close?

🕐 4 min 36 sec 👦 Ages 9–12 🌍 English
Join Owlo and Koko as they explore the moon up close, discovering its craters and what makes it unique!
Understand the moon's surface features Learn about meteorites and craters Explore the concept of space exploration
📖 Story Script
                    Owlo:
                    Koko, you look like you've been staring at something for a long time. What's on your mind?
                
                    Koko:
                    I was outside last night, and the moon looked so big and bright. I kept thinking, what is it actually like up there?
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is one of my favourite questions anyone has ever asked me. The moon looks so peaceful from here, doesn't it?
                
                    Koko:
                    It does! But is it peaceful up close too? Like, could I land on it and have a picnic?
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is a wonderful image, Koko. Let's find out together. I think the science lab has some great resources on this.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Here we go. I have a model of the moon's surface right here, and some photographs taken by real spacecraft.
                
                    Koko:
                    Whoa, it looks so different up close. It's covered in holes! What are all those craters?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Those craters are formed when rocks from space, called meteorites, crash into the moon's surface at very high speed.
                
                    Koko:
                    Like when you drop a ball into sand and it leaves a dent?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Exactly like that. And because the moon has no wind or rain, those craters stay there for billions of years.
                
                    Koko:
                    So the moon never cleans itself up. It just keeps all its dents forever.
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is a brilliant way to put it. The moon has no weather at all, which means its surface barely changes.
                
                    Koko:
                    Wait, no weather? So no clouds, no rain, nothing?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Nothing at all. The moon has no atmosphere. An atmosphere is the layer of air and gases that wraps around a planet.
                
                    Koko:
                    So if I went there, I couldn't breathe?
                
                    Owlo:
                    That's right. Astronauts have to bring their own oxygen in special suits. Without those suits, it would be impossible to survive.
                
                    Koko:
                    That makes the picnic idea a lot more complicated.
                
                    Owlo:
                    It does, yes. There is also the temperature to think about. The moon gets extremely hot in sunlight and bitterly cold in the dark.
                
                    Koko:
                    How hot and how cold are we talking?
                
                    Owlo:
                    In sunlight, the surface can reach around 127 degrees Celsius. In the dark, it can drop to minus 173 degrees Celsius.
                
                    Koko:
                    That is wild. So one side is like an oven and the other is like a giant freezer.
                
                    Owlo:
                    A perfect description. And here is something else fascinating. The moon's gravity is much weaker than Earth's gravity.
                
                    Koko:
                    So if I jumped up there, I would go really high?
                
                    Owlo:
                    You would jump about six times higher than you can here on Earth. The Apollo astronauts actually bounced around on the surface.
                
                    Koko:
                    That sounds like the most fun thing ever. Okay, maybe the picnic could still work if I wore a space suit.
                
                    Owlo:
                    I admire your determination. Now, let's look at the surface itself. It's covered in a fine grey dust called regolith.
                
                    Koko:
                    Regolith. That's a cool word. So the whole moon is basically dusty?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Very dusty. And the dust is sharp and clingy because nothing has ever worn it smooth. It stuck to everything the astronauts touched.
                
                    Koko:
                    Even their suits?
                
                    Owlo:
                    Even their suits, their equipment, everything. It was one of the biggest challenges of the Apollo missions.
                
                    Koko:
                    I never thought about dust being a problem in space. That's kind of funny and kind of scary at the same time.
                
                    Owlo:
                    Science is full of surprises like that. So, Koko, what do you think the moon is really like up close?
                
                    Koko:
                    It's nothing like it looks from here. It's actually a pretty tough place to visit.
                
                    Koko:
                    Okay, so the moon up close is covered in craters from meteorites that never go away because there's no weather. It has no atmosphere, so you can't breathe without a space suit. The temperature is super extreme, like really hot in sunlight and freezing cold in the dark. The gravity is weak so you'd bounce around, and the whole surface is covered in sharp, clingy dust called regolith. Honestly, it sounds amazing but also like the worst picnic spot in the solar system. Next I want to find out how the moon was actually formed, and maybe what it would take to actually live there one day.
                
                    Owlo:
                    That was a perfect summary, Koko. The moon is one of the most studied places beyond Earth, and there is still so much to discover.
                
                    Koko:
                    I'm going to keep looking at it every night now, but I'll think about all those craters and dust instead of just thinking it looks pretty.
                
                    Owlo:
                    That is exactly what a scientist does. They look at something familiar and ask what's really going on beneath the surface.