The Moon isn't just Earth's tiny sidekick. It's more like it's smaller, rockier, grayer

sibling that is just a special.

So much more profound and so much more eternal than these bags of

sand Apollo toted home, you know. It's the captain of our existence.

It's Tuesday, January 23rd, but you know what else it is? Yeah, it's Science Friday.

I'm Scifry producer Rasha Arredi. The Moon is responsible for some of the most important processes that happen here on Earth, not just the tides, but migrations, reproduction, circadian rhythms, even how we keep time. Life as we know it is in part thanks to the moon,

according to a new book called Our Moon, how Earth's Celestial Companion

transformed the planet, guided evolution, and made us who we are.

In this live Colin show, Ira Flato and guest host Sophie Bushwick talk with journalists and

author of Our Moon, Rebecca Boyle.

Welcome to Science Friday.

Thanks so much for having me.

All right, this is like a love story you write about the moon, right?

So I'm going to close my eyes, and I want you to take me to the moon. We traveled. What do I see?

Well, we've gone about a quarter of a million miles and if you're on the surface and you've landed and it's been a few minutes,

hopefully there's not dust kind of settling still around you in microgravity.

You weigh about one sixth of what you weigh on Earth.

It is completely silent, except for maybe the beeping of your life support system

and your space suit or your spaceship.

And there is nothing in front of you but a landscape that only a geologist would love.

It's mostly white, mostly gray, but there are acks of color depending on how the sun hits the rocks and maybe

how the angle of the sun is falling on your spacecraft or what's right in front of your window.

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