Interesting Moon Facts:
- The Moon is Earth’s only natural satellite
- Because the Moon keeps the same face turned pointed towards the Earth it is in synchronous rotation
- Early on when the Moon initially came into Earth’s gravitational field it became locked in this synchronous rotation
- The Moon rotates on its own axis about once for every 27.3 days as it takes to rotate the Earth.
- The Moon is the 5th largest satellite in the Solar System
- Distance from Earth to its Moon is 384,403 km (centre-to-centre)
- Earth’s Moon is about 30 times the diameter of the Earth
- It was not discovered until 1665 that other planets had natural satellites as well, at which point “moon” started to be dropped and instead referred to as “The Moon”
- There is no “Dark Side of the Moon” – the Moon rotates around the Earth and so all sides of the Moon are hit hit by the Sun at some point. However there is a “Far Side of the Moon” which is the side facing away from Earth.
- When the Moon is in the sky all day but lies in direction of the Sun its night side faces Earth so no lunar surface is visible. This is often incorrectly referred to as “New Moon” but should be referred to as “No Moon”.
- Although much of what the Moon is composed of is not thoroughly known, what is known has come from what has been collected and brought back to Earth (by the Apollo missions) and by studies performed on the Moon itself, as well as from remote studying using telescopes. The Moon used to have volcanoes which brought igneous rock to the surface containing feldspar, quartz, and olivine, and unique to the Moon tranquillityite, armalcolite, and pyroxferroite.
- The Moon moves a distance the size of its own diameter in about 2 minutes (1/2 degree). This is particularly relevant for photographers shooting pictures of the Moon.
- Whenever the Moon is above the horizon then Lunar eclipses are visible.
- An orbitting space shuttle travels at more than 27,000 kilometres an hour.
- Temperatures on the Moon can drop to 250 degrees below zero.
- The sound of the space shuttle taking off registers over 200 decibels.
- Highest sighting on Earth of a bird (vulture) was at an elevation of 37,900 feet. The vulture was sucked into a jet engine above the Ivory Coast.
- The Armstrong Line is at 62,000 feet above Earth where blood boils without a pressurized suit.
- To break out of the Earth’s gravitational field NASA’s latest rockets will have to accelerate to speeds of over 24,000 miles per hour (about 23 times the speed of sound).
- Moon soil contains metal oxides along with 40% oxygen by weight.
- Heating Moon dust to 800 degree Centigrade will turn it into water.
- The International Space Station has cost American taxpayers at least $31 billion so far
- The International Space Station collectively weighs over 700,000lbs
- The 3rd country into space was Canada.
- Canada has sent the 4th most number of visitors into space.
- NASA’s budget for the year 2009: $19billion.
- Total spending by NASA from 1958 to 2008 totals over $416billion.
- NASA is the acronym for: National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
- Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to walk on the moon’s surface by landing the lunar module Eagle on the “Sea of Tranquility”.
- A full moon is about 5 times brighter than a half-moon.