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[Music]

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Hi there

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My name is Anne McClain and I'm an

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astronaut who has lived and worked 250

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miles above the earth's surface on the

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international space station.

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Today we're going to be turning our eyes

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toward the moon and learning more about

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what causes the moon phases.

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But before we check out the moon phases

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let's take a look at where the space

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station is compared to where we are on

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earth and where the moon and the sun

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are. On earth you're only about 250 miles

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below the station.

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The moon however is located 238

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855 miles on average from earth.

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You could fit 30 earths in that distance.

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When you think about how far away we are

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from you on the station

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versus how far away the moon is, the

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station is only a tiny bit closer to the

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moon than we are here on earth.

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And that's only when the station is in

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orbit on the same side of earth as the

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moon.

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So the station is 250 miles away the

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moon is

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238 855 miles away

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and the sun is approximately 92 million

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900 000 miles away. That is quite the

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distance!

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Now that you know where you are relative

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to the station moon and the sun

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let's talk about the moon phases. Now

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when you're looking up at the moon from

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the earth you'll notice that it looks

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different from day to day.

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We call these differences the phases of

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the moon and they cycle through

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every 30 days. Let's check out a

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demonstration of the moon phases here on

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the ground.

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We're going to pretend his head is earth

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letting him

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view the moon as you would from your

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home. The ball in their hand is going to

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represent the moon

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and the light source is going to be our

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sun. Keep in mind that while the moon is

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orbiting earth

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earth is also rotating on its axis and

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slowly orbiting the sun.

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Now looking from our outsider

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perspective we can see the moon is still

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whole the entire time it is orbiting

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around earth

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with a side facing the sun always

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illuminated and reflecting sunlight.

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Let's take a look at what he is seeing.

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As you can see in the photographs from

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earth's view

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the reflection of sunlight looks quite

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different from this angle.

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Since we are only able to see parts of

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the reflected sunlight as the moon moves

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around earth

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this is what causes our moon phases as

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the moon orbits around earth

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every 30 days. There are names for each

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of the phases of the moon's 30-day cycle.

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When the moon looks completely dark

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we're experiencing a new moon. This is

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the beginning of the 30-day cycle. It

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will move through a waxing crescent

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phase until it is a first quarter moon.

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From here we will see a waxing gibbous

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until the moon appears fully illuminated.

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You might have heard this phase before

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this is what we call

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a full moon. After this phase the moon

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will go from a waning gibbous phase

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into a third quarter moon. After the

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third quarter moon it will become a

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waning crescent

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until it returns to a new moon.

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On the space station we see the same

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moon phases as we do on the earth's

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surface.

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Since the space station is only 250

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miles closer to the moon than we are

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here on the ground

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astronauts on the station have the same

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perspective you have but don't have the

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earth's atmosphere in their way for

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photographs.

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Astronauts currently on the space

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station actually use the moon's phases

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to collect

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research that will help NASA with the

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Artemis program as we work to go forward

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to the moon with our astronauts by 2024.

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So the next time you're outside take a

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glance up at the moon to check out what

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phase it's in.

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Are you interested in seeing the space

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station fly by as well? Ask an adult to

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help you sign up for spot the station

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at spot the station.nasa.gov.

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Thanks for learning with me today! See

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you next time!

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[Music]

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subscribe for more space

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