[Music]
Hi there
My name is Anne McClain and I'm an
astronaut who has lived and worked 250
miles above the earth's surface on the
international space station.
Today we're going to be turning our eyes
toward the moon and learning more about
what causes the moon phases.
But before we check out the moon phases
let's take a look at where the space
station is compared to where we are on
earth and where the moon and the sun
are. On earth you're only about 250 miles
below the station.
The moon however is located 238
855 miles on average from earth.
You could fit 30 earths in that distance.
When you think about how far away we are
from you on the station
versus how far away the moon is, the
station is only a tiny bit closer to the
moon than we are here on earth.
And that's only when the station is in
orbit on the same side of earth as the
moon.
So the station is 250 miles away the
moon is
238 855 miles away
and the sun is approximately 92 million
900 000 miles away. That is quite the
distance!
Now that you know where you are relative
to the station moon and the sun
let's talk about the moon phases. Now
when you're looking up at the moon from
the earth you'll notice that it looks
different from day to day.
We call these differences the phases of
the moon and they cycle through
every 30 days. Let's check out a
demonstration of the moon phases here on
the ground.
We're going to pretend his head is earth
letting him
view the moon as you would from your
home. The ball in their hand is going to
represent the moon
and the light source is going to be our
sun. Keep in mind that while the moon is
orbiting earth
earth is also rotating on its axis and
slowly orbiting the sun.
Now looking from our outsider
perspective we can see the moon is still
whole the entire time it is orbiting
around earth
with a side facing the sun always
illuminated and reflecting sunlight.
Let's take a look at what he is seeing.
As you can see in the photographs from
earth's view
the reflection of sunlight looks quite
different from this angle.
Since we are only able to see parts of
the reflected sunlight as the moon moves
around earth
this is what causes our moon phases as
the moon orbits around earth
every 30 days. There are names for each
of the phases of the moon's 30-day cycle.
When the moon looks completely dark
we're experiencing a new moon. This is
the beginning of the 30-day cycle. It
will move through a waxing crescent
phase until it is a first quarter moon.
From here we will see a waxing gibbous
until the moon appears fully illuminated.
You might have heard this phase before
this is what we call
a full moon. After this phase the moon
will go from a waning gibbous phase
into a third quarter moon. After the
third quarter moon it will become a
waning crescent
until it returns to a new moon.
On the space station we see the same
moon phases as we do on the earth's
surface.
Since the space station is only 250
miles closer to the moon than we are
here on the ground
astronauts on the station have the same
perspective you have but don't have the
earth's atmosphere in their way for
photographs.
Astronauts currently on the space
station actually use the moon's phases
to collect
research that will help NASA with the
Artemis program as we work to go forward
to the moon with our astronauts by 2024.
So the next time you're outside take a
glance up at the moon to check out what
phase it's in.
Are you interested in seeing the space
station fly by as well? Ask an adult to
help you sign up for spot the station
at spot the station.nasa.gov.
Thanks for learning with me today! See
you next time!
[Music]
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