what if the moon was closer to earth?

you hear some noise in the street and

Rush up to the window to check what

caused it you look up at the sky and

just stand there speechless

the Moon is giant it looks much larger

than usual and it's both beautiful and

scary

so what would your life be like if the

moon moved twice as close to Earth as it

is now

unfortunately it would be quite a

catastrophic scenario you see the moon

has a pretty strong gravitational pull

on Earth's oceans it produces two high

tides and two low tides per day

but with the moon so close to us the

tides would get eight times higher some

regions would be completely covered with

water during the day the water would

only retreat at night many islands and

highly populated Coastline territories

would become uninhabited because of this

many other regions would experience

frequent devastating floods

but if you think it would be the only

consequence let me tell you this the

moon also has a tidal effect on dry land

that's why if our planet's natural

satellite was to suddenly relocate its

gravitational pull would increase Making

Waves of energy reverberate throughout

the planet this would affect earth's

crust triggering earthquakes and

starting volcanic eruptions

now let's leave Earth and the giant moon

for a while and have a look at Jupiter's

moon EO

which is the most volcanically active

World in our solar system

this volcanism comes from the push and

pull from Jupiter's gravity two other

moons of the gas giant also have an

effect on poor EO that's why eo's

surface is littered with hundreds of

volcanoes

most of them are spewing sulfurous

plumes high above the surface of the

Moon

our planet might face the same fate

should the moon move so close to it

and that's not all Earth's spin would

start to slow down over time

look the moon's gravity pulls the oceans

and the resulting friction between the

water and the ocean floor slows Earth's

spin

yes Earth is slowing down even now as

you're watching this video but this

process is almost imperceptible around

one thousandth of a second per century

if the moon was twice as close to us the

rotation of our planet would slow much

more making days and nights longer

if people managed to survive unexpected

earthquakes high tides and volcanic

eruptions and got used to longer days

and nights they would get an award

solar eclipses

spectacular events that occur when the

moon passes between the Sun and Earth

would happen much more frequently since

the moon would cover a much larger area

in the sky it would pass in front of the

sun more often people on Earth would be

able to see the sun's outer atmosphere

called the corona it would shine

beautifully around the silhouette of the

Moon

such solar eclipses would also last much

longer

but what if the moon didn't shorten the

distance overnight

what if it was a much slower and much

more gradual process then our planet's

crust would shift more slowly Tides

wouldn't change so dramatically either

this would let living creatures on the

planet get used to the new conditions

and adjust in time longer days and

nights would likely change the climate

and animals would have to evolve to

adapt to it their eyes would have to

change to be able to deal with brighter

Moonlight at night prey would have to

learn to hide better but Predators on

the other hand would have more

advantages when hunting

but what catastrophe would have to

happen to make the moon move so close to

Earth

well it could be some massive object

like a giant asteroid passing very close

to the Earth Moon system

if the moon was in the way of this space

traveler it could take energy from

Earth's satellite

which would cause the moon to spiral

towards our planet

Have You Ever Seen The Other Side of the

Moon ah I caught you of course not but

maybe you've seen it in photos in that

case have you ever wondered why the two

sides look so different well let me tell

you we can't see the other side of the

moon people believe this is because the

moon doesn't rotate around its axis but

this is not true the moon does rotate it

just does it at the same rate as its

orbital motion this is a particular case

of tidal locking called synchronous

rotation the first time we ever saw a

Far Side was only in 1959 all thanks to

the Soviet Luna missions and later the

U.S Apollo program now when Luna 3 and

other spacecraft transmitted the first

Far Side images they revealed a far more

cratered hemisphere that looked more

like Mercury or Jupiter's moon Callisto

it looked completely different from what

we were used to and that's when we learn

how me the other side is no seriously

just look at it the near side can boast

it's thinner and smoother crust these

beautiful dark splotches are called

lunar mare the last remnants of ancient

lava flows and when I say ancient I mean

it they're more than 3 billion years old

meanwhile The Far Side crust is thicker

and crater pot the lava flows had almost

no effect on these impact craters it's

also devoid of any large-scale mare

low-key looks like dried white cheese to

be honest don't you agree that the

nearby side is much more beautiful write

your thoughts in the comments so only 50

years ago we learned something about the

apparent differences but then the

scientists discovered something weird

both sides are different even in the

geochemical composition and not only in

this our side was thinner than The Far

Side by several miles but where did such

significant differences come from on an

ordinary floating Stone own ball for

scientists this was a mystery they

started coming up with a lot of theories

the melted Moon theory was the main one

for a while it said that it was the

Earth's fault that our moon looks like

this this happened several billion years

ago the moon was born because of a

collision one day an object about the

size of Mars crashed into the Earth at

that moment a piece broke off from it

which later became the moon however this

piece was somewhere 15 times closer to

Earth than it is now

some scientists created pictures of the

so-called early mode unlike our cute

little white ball the early moan was a

strange looking boiling Scarlet ball

that piece didn't leave us after the

separation it became tidally locked very

soon after the Earth after the Collision

was still an incandescent nightmare full

of fire and lava it was boiling at a

temperature of 4 500 degrees Fahrenheit

and since the moon has always been

turned toward us with one side this side

has melted down a little this would

explain why the moon's surface the

so-called mantle is thinner on the near

side than on the far side during the

boiling of the earth certain elements

evaporated from it they then settled on

the moon this would explain the

difference in geochemical composition

between the two sides but there was a

plot hole in this theory if that's what

happened then where did rare foreign

chemical elements come from such as

unusual isotopes of phosphorus potassium

or tungsten the nearby site is full of

them and they couldn't have come from

the earth there were also other theories

another one said that initially we had

two teeny tiny moons later they merged

into a big one hence the difference in

their composition but this Theory sounds

a bit crazy and it has a plot hole too

for example the transition between the

two sides is way too soft if our moon

was actually two tiny moons this

transition would be more abrupt so

scientists were kind of at a loss on

this one but recently they finally

figured out what really happened to the

Moon all thanks to NASA's Grail orbiters

they spent over a year whizzing around

the Moon mapping it out and studying its

composition using this data scientists

have created around 360 computer

simulations they contain different

impacting objects of many sizes

traveling at different speeds scientists

were comparing the results with our

current Moon they try to determine which

result was the closest to what we have

today and so they finally solved this 50

year old mystery the answer lies in a

collision with a dwarf planet this

Collision occurred 4.3 billion years ago

this huge object was slightly larger

than series for those who don't know

Ceres is one of the dwarf planets of our

solar system its diameter is 580 miles

you could say that one France or one

Germany would fit into it so this giant

object crashed into the moon somewhere

near the South Pole this Collision was

so strong that it changed the image of

the Moon forever it left a trail of 3

500 miles behind it would take you 14

hours by plane to fly that distance

this crater covered the entire near Side

of the Moon it caused damage to the

moon's mantle it also created a

so-called South Pole Aiken base or Spa

Basin this is an impact crater and has a

diameter of 1600 miles which is like

adding one UK plus one Germany it's

important though the formation of this

Basin was a defining event in the

history of the Moon and it's the second

largest impact crater in the solar

system the Collision also caused a

powerful hot wave to spread across the

moon this wave scattered over the

remnants of those rare warm minerals

scientists found on the nearby side

that's how our beautiful side became

home to something called procellarum

creep terrain or pkt for short this is

basically a compositional anomaly a

concentration of potassium phosphorus

and other rare elements like thorium you

can say that those minerals are a gift

to us from Deep base anyway there were

many and I mean many collisions in the

moon's history all of them only deep in

this already large crater that's why the

mantle on the near side was Getting

Thinner and thinner with the ears also

our gifted minerals gave off a lot of

heat so the mantle has melted a little

bit more and more oops this accidentally

caused the moons of volcanoes to wake up

volcanic activity has increased on the

near side intense lava flows filled the

old empty craters ta-da and this is how

the beautiful lunar mare was born and

that's about how it all happened all

this information was found thanks to the

researchers from Brown Purdue Stanford

universities and NASA's JPL the research

was published by the Journal of

geophysical research planets so you can

read about it in more detail if you're

interested there are still many things

we need to learn about the moon the

highest prior priority is the return

Mission from the South Pole the Aitkin

Basin samples brought from there will be

used to determine the age of the Moon

its history and the nature of the crust

and mantle more accurately another

critical Target is the mosque of Jens

this is the name of a large lava plane

on The Far Side of the Moon studying it

will help us better understand the

difference between the two sides as well

as tell us how the other side was formed

all this knowledge is significant for

understanding the history of the moon

but it's also handy for space

exploration in general scientists use

the moon as a reference point to

determine the age of other planets and

entire worlds in Space the moon helps us

determine the chronology of the life of

the whole solar system so stay tuned for

new exciting research and discoveries

you're strapped in your seat in the vast

open space with Earth behind you getting

smaller and smaller all around you are

toggles and controls to keep the

spacecraft intact

you and two other crew members are

working hard at those controls out the

window you see some meteorites flying by

and stars and planets out in the

distance

you're about to be one of the first

people to land on the moon after years

of research and testing you have to

consider all the steps perfectly

otherwise you could face many

complications like crashing into a

flying asteroid or even being left in

the vacuum of space without any way of

getting on track

research shows that around one-third of

all moon landings faced many problems

launching towards the moon requires a

special rocket traveling at more than 25

000 miles per hour

and once in lunar orbit the spacecraft

can detach itself from the rocket and

navigate its way to the surface of the

Moon and land

sounds simple right well figuring out

the math to land was the reason Landing

a human on the moon used to seem like a

ridiculous idea

but scientists were able to pull it off

by studying and observing the flight of

helicopters

unlike an airplane that needs velocity

to take off the large propellers on a

helicopter give it a good push to fly

around it basically has to twirl with

enough Force to lift its own weight from

the ground

with that in mind we need to consider

the gravitational force pulling

everything down

on Earth the force of gravity is 32 feet

per second squared

on the moon it's only five feet per

second squared

so we got landing on Earth figured out

for the most part but what about landing

on a surface that barely assists you in

that

there had to be three steps doing all

the research and math needed for

calculating the proper conditions

using a test vehicle to practice it and

using a flight simulator to imitate the

conditions of the moon's atmosphere

Choppers weren't really good references

for landing gravity is doing most of the

work and the spacecraft looks nothing

like a helicopter

they needed to simulate a spaceship of

only five six the weight of it

since the gravitational pull on the moon

is weaker than on Earth navigating it

under these conditions is vital for when

the real thing comes

the scientists of NASA decided to get a

crane hanger to lift the spacecraft with

cables while simulating the flight and

Landing kind of like stunt actors in a

movie with cables attached them for

Action fight scenes but it still wasn't

enough to determine if you could

actually land properly on the moon

without the safety cables to help you

they needed proper freedom

so it was back to the drawing board

they were about to throw in the towel

until they came up with a brilliant idea

to simulate The Landing conditions on

the Moon by installing a sort of

detachable Jet fan into the bottom of

the spacecraft to keep consistent thrust

upwards

by doing this they were able to create a

scenario where the craft would be five

six of its weight on Earth and without

the safety cables to hold it but after

many trials and errors the only way to

see if landing on the moon was possible

was by actually doing it

so being so far away from Earth you and

your team see the moon out your window

it's a lot bigger than it looks from

Earth its surface fills up the entire

window

but landing won't be a piece of cake the

spaceship has to orbit around the Moon

to determine the best time to land and

don't worry that's why you have a team

for that

it can take more than 24 hours to know

when and where the perfect place to land

is after performing various tests and

measurements and once you get the best

calculations the actual spaceship

detaches from the orbiting one and makes

its way downwards this is where the

helicopter physics come into play

a helicopter needs to Tilt at least five

degrees to move forward after ascending

from the ground

same for going backwards but that's

because we have gravity to assist it

up above the Moon soaring through the

vacuum of space the ship would need to

Tilt at least 30 to 40 degrees to move

forward

as soon as the ship reached a nice spot

for landing it would go back to 90

degrees and slowly land on the surface

as you get closer you can see the moon's

surface just a few feet away

this is the tricky part but it's a

success

the team back on Earth couldn't be

happier the crew members are also

thrilled about what you've achieved you

put on your spacesuit and gear and climb

down the ladder you leave your first

footprint on the moon and look out at

the distance ahead of you

the Earth is just a little blue dot far

away

you're able to bounce around in the near

zero gravity Now That's What I Call

moonwalking

after spending much time on the moon

it's time to head back

Neil Armstrong the first man to step on

the moon

spend only about two and a half hours on

its surface before returning

but oh no you forgot the keys inside the

ship and now you're stranded

nah just kidding although it would have

made a good plot twist

you get back and launch the spacecraft

back into orbit to reunite with the

other ship above you

and once you've reattached you exit the

moon's orbit and head back to Earth

by sending humans to the Moon

consistently the next big step can be

achieved by landing on Mars

the famous exploration rover Curiosity

traveled around the surface of Mars and

gathered information needed for humans

to land there and NASA is aiming to have

the first humans up there after 2030.

the journey will be hundreds of times

harder than the one towards the moon but

many scientific questions will be

answered once it happens humans may be

able to gather some of the natural

resources there and even build outposts

and colonies

there are endless possibilities as well

as challenges

the journey from the Earth to the Moon

is around 250 000 miles

Mars is around 35 million miles away

there could be a possibility of a new

human Outpost station on Mars

building a new Society of scientists and

Engineers to make the most out of the

conditions it would be completely

self-sufficient providing proper ways

for farming and Agriculture and by

having humans on Mars for so long

scientists can properly understand the

planet

but to understand how the human body

responds to deep space environment we'd

have to have a lot of practice before

getting that ticket to Mars

the closest experience of having a

colony in the middle of nowhere is the

Amazon Scott station on the South Pole

it's designed to withstand all the harsh

conditions of the freezing dry coal

being at the bottom of the world can be

pretty stressful without proper practice

the journey may not be as far as Mars or

the Moon

but being on the South Pole is like

arriving on a whole new planet

the station itself is equipped to

provide the proper conditions everyone

needs to be comfortable

besides the strong heating system the

station has a recreational room for

sports and music

a library a lounge and even a greenhouse

to grow all the right veggies and fruits

in fact the greenhouse is the only way

you'd get to feel like you're in a

rainforest

and even before applying there you'd

have to get screened to see if you can

handle the isolation for months

not that you'd be completely alone but

still away from civilization

Antarctica's whole population consists

of scientists and engineers and you need

to be examined by a doctor to determine

if you're physically fit to stay there

the station is built there for

scientists to study space in things

related to geology

being in the biggest desert in the world

can take its toll on you

when leaving the station you have to

wear at least three layers of gloves and

extremely thick sweaters and jackets to

withstand the cold

they even compared stepping on the South

Pole to walking on the moon