07/21/2024
Fifty-five years ago today, humans were up there. 🌕
On July 20, 1969, humans walked on another world for the first time in history – our closest celestial neighbor, the Moon. In the words of astronaut Neil Armstrong, it was “one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind.”
An astronaut on the International Space Station took this photo of the Moon in May 2024 when it was in the waxing crescent phase, with only a small sliver of the Sun-illuminated side visible on the right. The rest of the Moon glows more faintly by the light of the Sun after it has been reflected off of Earth—a phenomenon called earthshine. Below the Moon, Earth’s bright horizon, or limb, arcs across the bottom of the image. A cross-section of Earth’s atmospheric layers are visible, including the orange troposphere nearest to the surface and the thicker, light-blue stratosphere above that.
Since then, studying the Moon has continued to help us learn more about our home planet. The Moon offers clues as to how life on Earth may have begun, helps climate scientists understand Earth’s energy budget, and inspires us all.
https://go.nasa.gov/3LyGvf2
