1 00:00:01,611 --> 00:00:04,471 Is there weather on the Moon? 2 00:00:09,009 --> 00:00:08,110 NASA 3 00:00:09,110 --> 00:00:13,680 Well, because the Moon doesn't have a significant atmosphere like Earth, 4 00:00:13,680 --> 00:00:16,883 it does not experience weather, like wind 5 00:00:16,883 --> 00:00:20,620 or atmospheric temperature or precipitation like rain and snow. 6 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:25,625 However, the Moon does experience what we refer to as space weather. 7 00:00:26,226 --> 00:00:30,530 Space weather loosely refers to how changing conditions 8 00:00:30,530 --> 00:00:33,433 throughout the solar system, like the varying solar wind, 9 00:00:33,433 --> 00:00:36,403 which is composed of charged particles from the Sun 10 00:00:36,403 --> 00:00:41,641 and meteoroid streams, affect planetary surfaces and volatile cycles. 11 00:00:41,975 --> 00:00:46,413 So at the Moon, the solar wind and meteoroids have direct access 12 00:00:46,413 --> 00:00:50,550 to the surface and they continuously alter the lunar soil. 13 00:00:50,784 --> 00:00:55,055 These same processes can eject gases from the lunar soil and form 14 00:00:55,055 --> 00:01:00,026 a very tenuous lunar atmosphere, which we refer to as an exosphere. 15 00:01:00,026 --> 00:01:05,198 At Earth, our atmosphere and magnetosphere largely protects us from space weather. 16 00:01:05,365 --> 00:01:08,401 However, in the uppermost regions of Earth's atmosphere, 17 00:01:08,401 --> 00:01:11,137 it can be a problem for satellite technologies. 18 00:01:11,771 --> 00:01:14,207 So is there weather on the Moon? 19 00:01:14,541 --> 00:01:18,378 The Moon does not experience weather like on Earth related to the atmosphere. 20 00:01:18,378 --> 00:01:24,851 However, it does experience space weather and that will be very important to forecast as humans return to the Moon.