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The Moon House

An artist built a little red house and launched it into space. If all goes as planned, the house will be placed on the Moon’s surface. 

A tiny red house with white trim and a green door sits among some equipment.

Courtesy of ispace, Inc.

The Moonhouse, seen here before it was launched into space in January 2025.

No one lives on the Moon, but a Swedish artist plans to put a home there anyway. Artist Mikael Genberg and a team of engineers (building experts) constructed a little red house that’s expected to land on the Moon in a few months.

“In my mind, [it was a] really poetic thought to put a red house with white corners on the surface of the Moon,” Genberg said in a video posted on the Internet. “And now it’s going to happen.”

At 4.7 inches (12 centimeters) long, 3.1 inches (8 cm) wide, and 3.9 inches (10 cm) tall, the Moonhouse is the size of a toy. But unlike a typical dollhouse, it’s made of aluminum and is designed to withstand its journey into space, says Emil Vinterhav, head of the Moonhouse technical team.

“The house structure has undergone…shock and vibration tests to ensure it can…survive intact in its new climate,” Vinterhav said in a statement. “Even just finding a durable red paint for the house is a story in itself.”

This won’t be the first trip to space for the Moonhouse. It has already been high up in trees, under water, atop the Great Wall of China, and aboard the International Space Station, which is 248 miles (400 kilometers) above Earth.

For its latest journey, the house was launched into space aboard a Japanese lunar lander in January. It’s expected to take four months to reach the Moon. Once there, the Moonhouse is there to stay.

“[The lander] should release the house, take some pictures, and leave it alone standing there for thousands and thousands and maybe millions of years,” Genberg said.

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Did You Know?

The Moonhouse will take four months to reach the Moon. But the voyage from Earth to the Moon can be shorter, depending on the path taken. Here’s how long it takes to get to some other space destinations from Earth.

The Moon: 3 days to a few months

Mars: 7–10 months

Jupiter: 5–6 years

A starry sky with Jupiter seen as the brightest light.

© Mariana Suarez—AFP/Getty Images

The brightest light in this photo looks like a star—but it’s actually Jupiter!

Get Ready for Pi Day!

How many kinds of pie can you think of? There’s pizza pie, apple pie, and cherry pie, just to name a few. There’s also pi, a long number that can be shortened to 3.14. Since 3/14 is also another way to write March 14, many people celebrate the 14th of March as Pi Day!

Here’s a neat trick you can do with pi.

Picture a circle. It could be a pie or a Frisbee or just a plain circle. If you measure the length around the circle, you get its circumference. If you measure the length across the circle at its widest point, you get its diameter.

Two round circles are shown. One circle has a dotted line showing the circumference and the other has a dotted line showing the diameter. Two dogs “bark” the labels for circumference and diameter.

© bazzier, Arif_Vector/stock.adobe.com; Photo illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Now divide the circumference by the diameter. You’ll always get a number that’s very close to 3.14. In other words, you’ll always get pi.

A circle is shown with an equation showing that the circumference divided by the diameter equals roughly 3.14.

© bazzier, Arif_Vector/stock.adobe.com; Photo illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.

Try this at home! Find a circular object and measure it. Then divide the circumference by the diameter and see what you get.

Pi Day isn’t just about math, though. It’s often celebrated by eating pie!

Want to Live on the Moon?

A full moon is over Mount Rainier at dusk.

© Allen/stock.adobe.com

Scientists say humans may one day build settlements on the Moon! If you had a chance to live on the Moon, would you take it?

You can learn more about Earth’s moon at Britannica!

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Word of the Day

dwelling

Part of speech:

noun

Definition:

: a place where a person lives

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