The+Moon

 THE MOON   **Moon’s Characteristic s ** If you look into the sky at night, you will see the moon. It may look different depending on the night. You may also think that it is shining, but it does not make its own life. The sun shines and the sunlight makes it look shiny. The moon is the Earth’s satellite, which means it orbits the earth. The moon orbits the Earth every three hundred eighty-four days. The moon is located four hundred kilometers from earth. Gravity keeps the moon in orbit so it can’t fly away. The Moon and the Earth are very different celestial bodies. The moon is very small; it is only one fourth of the size of the earth. Its mass is 7.3e22 kilograms. The diameter of the moon is three-hundred fourty-seven kilometers. Our planet Earth has one moon, while many other planets have several moons. They are different in other ways than looks. Unlike Earth, the moon has no atmosphere. Since there is no atmosphere, the moon has no rain or wind like we do here on Earth. The Moon’s charcoal-gray surface is covered in many craters.  **The Exploration of the Moo n ** In 1959, Luna 2, a Soviet spacecraft, was the first spacecraft to land on the Moon. The moon was finally explored on July 20, 1969 by Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, two Americans. They were the first people to set foot on the moon. Their foot prints will stay for a long time, due to the fact that there is no atmosphere. In the summer of 1994, the moon was mapped by a little space craft. On March 5, 1998, it was announced that data returned by the Luna Prospector space craft indicated that ice might be present at both the northern and southern poles of the Moon. Over the years many objects have been brought back to Earth, three-hundred eighty-two kilograms of rock samples were brought back to Earth by the Apollo and Luna programs. **Are you interested in learning more? ** If so, visit: · <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: rgb(255,0,237); font-family: Calibri;">nineplanets.gov <span style="font-size: 14pt; color: rgb(255,0,237); font-family: Symbol;">· <span style="color: rgb(255,0,237);">nasa.<span style="color: rgb(228,25,235);">go  <span style="color: rgb(27,238,231);"><span style="color: rgb(255,0,237);">v



<span style="color: rgb(23,166,103);">

<span style="color: rgb(23,166,103);">If you would like to see a video about the moon, click below:
media type="file" key="MOON.wmv"

<span style="display: block; font-size: 300%; font-family: 'Palatino Linotype','Book Antiqua',Palatino,serif; text-align: center;">Home

Science