Why Is The World Rushing Back To The Moon?

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The Moon has been one of the most important theoretical stepping stones to our understanding of the universe. We’ve long understood that it could also be our literal stepping stone: humanity’s first destination beyond our atmosphere.

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Hosted by Matt O'Dowd
Written by Matt O'Dowd
Post Production by Leonardo Scholzer, Yago Ballarini & Stephanie Faria
Directed by Andrew Kornhaber
Associate Producer: Bahar Gholipour
Executive Producers: Eric Brown & Andrew Kornhaber
Executive in Charge for PBS: Maribel Lopez
Director of Programming for PBS: Gabrielle Ewing
Assistant Director of Programming for PBS: John Campbell

Spacetime is a production of Kornhaber Brown for PBS Digital Studios.
This program is produced by Kornhaber Brown, which is solely responsible for its content.
© 2024 PBS. All rights reserved.

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[markmuller]

"We could only pretend that we are the center of the universe for so long when we can literally see the detailed surface of another world with naked eyes" *quote of the decade*

[darrennew]

I read a sci-fi short story once in which many of the people watching the eclipse were disguised aliens here to just go "Wow, that's crazy!"

[DanielSolis]

"Okay, boss. We finished building your lunar base!"
"Why is it shaped like that?"
"You wanted a **checks notes** crude lunar base."
"I wanted a CREWED lunar base."

[MusabAksakal]

After so many years, being 31 now, I was worried we've truly given up on space, felt like this quote hit too hard: "We used to look up at the sky and wonder at our place in the stars. Now we just look down, and worry about our place in the dirt" - Interstellar, but now seeing this gives me hope 🙂

[luayuahmed]

I think Mars is interesting from a scientific perspective, but from an engineering perspective for a society who is looking to expand beyond Earth, the Moon is the easiest way to develop technology and procedures for continued expansion.

[NeonVisual]

Because we're running low on cheese.

[O.M.G.Puppies]

China was not the first unmanned probe to return rock samples. The Soviets did it with Luna-16 and 20 returned rocks, . and Luna-24 drilled and returned a two-meter core sample.

[christopherbrand]

I kept hearing 'crewed' as 'crude' and thought that was a pretty bold comment on the sophistication of those missions

[catchphase]

I love the book, Artemis, written by Andy Weir. At the end of this century, we've colonised the moon and discovered rich aluminium oxide deposits. Andy Weir is the one that wrote The Martian, and Artemis is definitely as worthy of a read.

[michaelporzio]

Correction 9:38 The Soviet Luna 16 (in 1970) was the first robotic probe to land on the Moon and return a sample to Earth and represented the first lunar sample return mission by the Soviet Union and the third overall.

[CH-mpeu]

Excellent! Finally, and episode I understood from start to finish!

[Sekyra]

I am really glad that you created an informative video about the moon's importance in our near future and how we can expect thing to unfold with future missions.
Surprisingly, approximately 43% of the oxygen is trapped in the lunar soil in form of minerals, which means that there is a plentiful supply.
I am proud to support this cause and be part of the research team that is exploring the extraction of oxygen using hydrogen, which will help in generating water on the moon and sustain life.
Excellent work as always PBS!

[SanderHollebrand]

Well, Charon probably doesn’t count anymore because Pluto is a dwarf planet these days…but Charon is crazy big compared to Pluto…

[pierfrancescopeperoni]

14:09 time on the moon ticks a little bit faster (weaker gravitational field), not slower.

[shmookins]

Crazy to think that one day soon, we'll have a 4k live feed from the Lunar surface.

[CarletonTorpin]

0:52 - That intro moon-shot. Beautiful work, PBS Space Time crew.

[whophd]

Lunar Time — needs its own episode surely!

[uthor]

You're the best science communicator I'm aware of, thanks Matt.

[kevinpotts]

My wife and I went to southern Illinois to see the eclipse and it was perfect. One of the highlights of our lives.

[RakeshSamaddar]

14:08 Doesn't time tick a tiny bit slower on earth compared to moon's surface?