The moon is not round | Taihong Pan | TEDxGrand School Qingdao Youth

A student speaker recounts how a small secondhand telescope on a sixth-floor balcony changed his view of the sky. His first look at the Moon showed a rocky, pitted surface rather than the smooth coin he had imagined. Learning from his father and reference books led him to question what he thought he knew, including facts about Venus and China's Chang'e lunar probe. The talk also covers setbacks, from nearly giving up on a math problem to watching rockets fail and be rebuilt, and the point that space exploration relies on many workers behind the scenes. The speaker argues that mistakes corrected along the way bring us closer to an accurate understanding. The talk was given at a TEDx event organized independently by a local community.

• A first telescope view of the Moon shows a rocky, pitted surface
• Venus is a planet, and Chang'e is a real lunar probe that returned 1,731 grams of moon soil
• Space exploration depends on many unnamed workers, not only astronauts
• Being wrong is part of learning, and questioning keeps curiosity alive

In this TED Talk, Taihong Pan shares how a small, scratched 300-yuan telescope on a sixth-floor balcony changed the way he sees the sky—and himself. The first time he looked at the moon, he screamed: it wasn't the smooth, shiny coin he'd imagined, but a rocky, pitted world. That shock sparked a habit of questioning what he thought he knew. Through his father, he learned Venus is a planet, not a star; through The Space Encyclopedia, he discovered that Chang'e is not just a fairy tale but a real lunar probe that brought 1,731 grams of moon soil home. He also speaks honestly about nearly giving up on a math problem, watching rockets explode and be rebuilt, and realizing that space exploration depends on thousands of unnamed workers, not just famous astronauts. His message: being wrong is not failure—every corrected mistake brings us closer to the real sky. Chasing stars isn't about catching one; it's about keeping your head up, keep asking questions, and keep being surprised. As a student at Grand Primary School,Taihong Pan has achieved notable recognition in several English competitions. He won the Platinum Award in the Individual Final of the 20th Qingdao "Future Star" English Competition for Primary and Secondary School Students, and earned Gold Awards in the Individual Finals of the 17th, 18th, and 19th Qingdao English Competitions for Primary and Secondary School Students. He was also awarded Gold in the Individual Finals of the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Peinuo Cup TED English Speech Competitions. This talk was given at a TEDx event using the TED conference format but independently organized by a local community. Learn more at https://www.ted.com/tedx