Awesome Moon

After returning from a trip to the moon, an astronaut is disappointed to find that the world has lost interest in her journey. As things progress, her life intersects with a filmmaker and a bear on a unicycle in this charming and touching animated short film by writer/director Mathieu Libman.

Launching a rocket to the Moon isn’t quite as simple as just going straight up and into the sky. Exploring Space provides a great layperson’s explanation of the mechanics at play, starting with an orbit around Earth, a gradual transition to the Moon’s orbit, and descent to the lunar surface. Lear more about orbital mechanics here.

Created by illustrator Katheren Belle for Schoolhouse, this elongated wall calendar charts the waxing and waning cycles of the moon. It serves as both a unique piece of wall art and a useful reference for those who need to know moon phases like farmers, fishermen, and surfers. The print measures 30″h x 10″w.

Take a walk on the surface of the moon – without leaving your living room or bedroom. These fun circular carpets feature a printed image of the moon on a high-density Polyester fiber pile. It’s comes in sizes from 60cm (~2′) to 180cm (~5’9″), in grey or blue. Earth is also available in rug form.

The 16mm footage that astronauts shot on the moon back in the early 1970s was only 12 frames per second, resulting in jittery images. Using modern technology, Dutch Steam Machine interpolated frames to 60 frames per second, resulting in smooth video that’s likely more representative of what the astronauts saw.

Put the moon in the palm of your hand with Shire Post Mint’s lovely lunar memento. Each coin features engraved detail of the near and far sides of the moon, struck into solid 999 fine silver. Available in 1″ (.25 troy oz.) and 1.5″ (1 troy oz.) sizes. Why can’t real currency look this awesome?

Want a cool replica of the moon for your desk? Check out this clip from How to, who shows us how you can use a plastic sphere, candle wax, sandpaper, and paint to cast and sculpt a nifty, textured lunar model. We suppose if you stuck a wick in it, you could make a moon candle.

Using data captured by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA was able to replicate the view that Apollo 13 astronauts saw on the far side of the moon back in 1970, but in razor-sharp 4K resolution. There are a variety of views depicted, including the trajectory of the astronauts as they came around the moon.

Amateur philosopher and space enthusiast exurb1a reminisces about the history of lunar exploration, from the Apollo missions through NASA’s plans to return to the moon in the 21st century. Along the way, you’ll learn a thing or two about the moon’s origins, its relationship to Earth, and more.

Luxury electronics maker Bang & Olufsen presents a special edition of its Beoplay A9 living room speaker. Designed in collaboration with pop artist Daniel Arsham, this model takes advantage of its circular shape, replacing the solid color face with an image inspired by the artist’s cratered blue moon globe.

Designer VisualDon has created all kinds of wonderful video eye candy, including this emotive and calming image of an astronaut on an endless walk along the lunar surface as the Earth hangs in the distance. The video is available for free download for non-commercial use, or can be licensed for commercial use.

Motion artist Visualdon created this surreal and eye-catching short loop which places the moon at the center of a forest. While the real moon isn’t self-illuminating, there’s plenty of room for creative license when it comes to art. Check out his Instagram channel for more wild visuals.

The Earth’s lone moon is very important to the way the world works, affecting everything from the ocean tides, to the regularity of our seasons and the length of our days. But what would happen if another similar asteroid got pulled into the Earth’s orbit? SciShow explores some of the potentially serious implications.

No, we don’t actually have the capability (yet). But here are the major things that would happen if we somehow destroyed or lost the Moon, courtesy of RealLifeLore. Good news, we’d see more stars at night. Bad news, the polar ice caps would eventually melt.

It’s been more than 50 years since the U.S. first started exploring the moon. In this video from NASA’s Goddard Space Center, they combined footage and sound clips from lunar missions with a graph and musical track that echoes the degree of their efforts.

Toyota and The Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) have teamed up to study mobility in space, with a fuel cell electric vehicle which could be used for human exploration on the moon. Despite energy transport limitations, its could cover 10,000 km in its lifetime.

NASA Goddard released this beautiful and moving video of data captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, rendered as a digital 3D model, and accompanied perfectly by Claude Debussy’s Clair de Lune, which translates to “moonlight” in English.

The thought of setting up shop and living on the surface of the moon seems like a far away sci-fi dream, but we actually have the technology and smarts to do it in the next decade – assuming we had the funding. Kurzgesagt explains, in part one of their series about space colonization.

Back in the 1980s, car salesman Dennis Hope started selling plots of land on Earth’s moon, and has since expanded to other lunar and planetary bodies. We’re pretty sure he and his buyers own absolutely jack squat, but it’s a nice dream anyhow. Zach Christy’s video explains.

Using data and imagery captured by its Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, NASA compiled this wondrous look at our Moon, showing off details of its surface, its North and South poles, its massive craters, what might lie beneath its crust, and locations astronauts have visited.

On a clear night in Los Angeles, the makers of the accurate solar system scale model decided to take their powerful telescope around the city to share an up-close view of the moon with strangers. A heartwarming and inspiring act.

As of 2012, by NASA’s count there are 809 manmade objects on the Moon. You can find the full list here. Spacecraft make up the bulk of our moon litter, but Half as Interesting points out that we left a wide variety of “artifacts”, including poop.

These substantial coasters are one small step for a drink, one giant step for drink-kind. Each concrete coaster is hand textured and pigmented, creating a unique lunar surface for your cocktail to land on. Sold as a set of four.