Related topics: nasa , lcross , spacecraft , lunar surface , lunar crater
Moon
hideThe Moon is Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. The average centre-to-centre distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,403 km, about thirty times the diameter of the Earth. The common centre of mass of the system (the barycentre) is located about 1,700 km—a quarter the Earth's radius—beneath the surface of the Earth. The Moon makes a complete orbit around the Earth every 27.3 days (the orbital period), and the periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth–Moon–Sun system are responsible for the phases of the moon, which repeat every 29.5 days (the synodic period).
The Moon's diameter is 3,474 km, a little more than a quarter of that of the Earth. Thus, the Moon's surface area is less than a tenth that of the Earth (about a quarter the Earth's land area, approximately as large as Russia, Canada, and the United States combined), and its volume is about 2 percent that of Earth. The pull of gravity at its surface is about 17 percent of that at the Earth's surface.
The Moon is the only celestial body to which humans have traveled and upon which humans have performed a manned landing. While the Soviet Union's Luna program was the first to reach the Moon with unmanned spacecraft, the NASA Apollo program by the United States achieved the only manned missions to date, beginning with the first manned lunar mission by Apollo 8 in 1968, and six manned lunar landings between 1969 and 1972- the first being Apollo 11 in 1969. Human exploration of the Moon temporarily ceased with the conclusion of the Apollo program, although a few robotic landers and orbiters have been sent to the Moon since that time. The U.S. has committed to return to the moon by 2018.
For more information about Moon, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
News tagged with moon
Jupiter's Moon Europa Has Enough Oxygen For Life
Space & Earth / Earth Sciences
Oct 16, 2009 |
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New research suggests that there is plenty of oxygen available in the subsurface ocean of Europa to support oxygen-based metabolic processes for life similar to that on Earth. In fact, there may be enough ...
Scientist Explains Why Jupiter's Moon Europa Could Have Energetic Liquid Oceans
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 12, 2008 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Scientists used to think that Jupiter and its moons - and most other bodies orbiting far from the Sun - were cold, icy, and probably barren. When the Voyager spacecraft flew by in the late ...
LCROSS Impact Finds Water on the Moon
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 13, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- The argument that the moon is a dry, desolate place no longer holds water. Secrets the moon has been holding, for perhaps billions of years, are now being revealed to the delight of scientists ...
NASA's dirty secret: Moon dust
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 26, 2008 |
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The Apollo Moon missions of 1969-1972 all share a dirty secret. "The major issue the Apollo astronauts pointed out was dust, dust, dust," says Professor Larry Taylor, Director of the Planetary Geosciences ...
Scientists Make Oxygen Out of Moon Rock
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Aug 11, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- If humans ever create a lunar base, one of the biggest challenges will be figuring out how to breathe. Transporting oxygen to the moon is extremely expensive, so for the past several years ...
Avatar's moon Pandora could be real
Dec 17, 2009 |
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In the new blockbuster Avatar, humans visit the habitable - and inhabited - alien moon called Pandora. Life-bearing moons like Pandora or the Star Wars forest moon of Endor are a staple of science fiction. ...
NASA's Ares I-X moon rocket makes first test flight
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 28, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- NASA's Ares I-X test rocket lifted off at 11:30 a.m. EDT Wednesday from NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Florida for a two-minute powered flight.
Indian satellite confirmed US moon landing: scientist
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 02, 2009 |
4.3 / 5 (26) |
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India's first lunar mission has captured images of the landing site of the Apollo 15 craft, debunking theories that the US mission was a hoax, the country's state-run space agency said Wednesday.
Deep Impact, Moon Mineralogy Mapper find clear evidence of water on moon
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 23, 2009 |
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New data from the Deep Impact spacecraft and the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3), an instrument aboard India's recently ended Chandrayaan-1 spacecraft, provide, for the first time, clear evidence that water exists ...
Mars Express acquires sharpest images of martian moon Phobos
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 30, 2008 |
4.6 / 5 (23) |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Mars Express closed in on the intriguing martian moon Phobos at 6:49 CEST on 23 July, flying past at 3 km/s, only 93 km from the moon. The ESA spacecraft’s fly-bys of the moon have returned ...
Biggest Full Moon of the Year
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Dec 10, 2008 |
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No, you can not see Neil Armstrong's footprint. But go ahead and look: The full Moon of Dec. 12th is the biggest and brightest full Moon of the year.
Astronomers Detect Sodium Gas Ejected by Lunar Impact
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Oct 12, 2009 |
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(PhysOrg.com) -- Boston University astronomers announced today observations of a cloud of sodium gas ejected from the Moon’s surface as a result of the NASA impact experiment that was part of its Lunar Reconnaissance ...
Fantastic Voyage
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Nov 02, 2009 |
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By travelling to the outer solar system, the two Voyager spacecraft allowed us to see amazing details of far-distant planets and moons.
Planets Align for the 4th of July
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Jul 02, 2008 |
4.1 / 5 (19) |
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News Flash: On 4th of July weekend, NASA forecasts lights in the sky. No, not those lights. Look beyond the fireworks. Almost halfway up the western sky, just above the twilight glow of sunset, a trio of worlds ...
Amateur Astronomers See Perseids Hit the Moon
Space & Earth / Space Exploration
Sep 03, 2008 |
4.3 / 5 (18) |
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One, the old-fashioned way: Find a dark place with starry skies and count the meteors streaking overhead. Two, the new way: Find a dark place with starry skies and then completely ignore the meteors. Instead, ...
