COOL FACTS

The moon was formed 4.6 billion years ago (about 30-50 million years after the formation of the solar system). The leading theory is that the moon was created when a rock the size of Mars slammed into Earth, shortly after the solar system began forming.

The moon is much smaller than the earth (a little more than 1/4th the size of Earth). It is airless, waterless and lifeless.

The moon’s heavily cratered surface is the result of intense pummeling by space rocks between 4.1 and 3.8 billion years ago. You can see the surface of the moon by using a pair of binoculars or a small telescope.

The moon is not round or spherical. It is shaped like an egg and the larger end points toward the Earth.

The moon has much weaker gravity than Earth so you would weigh less (about 1/6th) of your weight on Earth. If you weighed 100lbs on Earth, you would weigh 16.6 lbs on the moon.

It takes the moon 29.5 days to orbit around the Earth. The orbit path is not quite circular.

The rise and fall of the tides on Earth is caused by the moon and the gravitational pull it exerts.

The moon is 239,000 miles away from Earth. It takes about 3 days to get to the moon in a spaceship.

At full moon and new moon, the Sun, Earth and moon are lined up. At this time the tides are higher than normal and are called spring tides for the way they spring up.

The moon is drifting away from the earth (approx. 3.8cm every year).

The moon changes from a thin crescent to a full moon and back again to a crescent in one month (29 days; which is a lunar month).

The moon has 4 phases: first quarter, last quarter, full moon and new moon. These are also known as lunar phases and they occur as the moon orbits the earth.

When a month has two full moons, the second moon is called a blue moon. Either January or March will have two moons. February has no full moons.

The moon has no atmosphere- it is unprotected from cosmic rays, meteorites and solar winds. Lack of atmosphere means no sound

can be heard on the moon and the sky always appears black.

The dark areas on the moon are known as the seas (they are not really seas but huge expanses of smooth dark lava). They are all given Latin names such as Mare Serenitatis(Sea of Serenity) or Mare Frigoris (Sea of Cold).

In China, the dark shadows that are on the moon are

called “the toad in the moon.”

The dark side of the moon is a myth. Both sides of the moon see the same amount of sunlight however only one face of the moon is ever seen from Earth.

The moon is the only extraterrestrial body that has ever been visited by humans.

The first spacecraft to

reach the moon was Luna 1, a Soviet craft, in

1959.

Neil Armstrong’s first step on the moon was on July 21, 1969. As he stepped out of the Eagle (his spacecraft) and stepped on the moon, he said the famous phrase, “That’s one small step

for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

The moon has only been walked on by 12 people- all American males. Neil Armstrong (on Apollo 11 mission, 1969) was the first man to walk on the moon. In 1972, Gene Cernan (Apollo 17) was the last man to walk the moon.

President Nixon had a speech ready to read in case the moon mission was a failure. Copies of the transcript can be found online.

Any footprints made by astronauts on the moon are still there and will remain for millions of years because the moon has no atmosphere or wind.

Some items humans have left on the moon: camera, human waste, commemorative plaques, American flags, defunct lunar rovers and mirrors.

The American flags left on the moon are most

likely bleached white now from solar radiation.

There’s water on the moon! There is frozen water lurking in the shadowed craters and potentially below the soil itself.

In 1988, of people surveyed in Arizona, 13% believed that the moon’s surface was indeed made of cheese.