Focus on the Moon – By Elizabeth Rose PIN 7430

THE MOON

The Moon or Luna as it was known in Mythological times is the ruling planet of Cancer.

The Moon is actually classed as a satellite of the Earth and not a planet and it is the Earths lone natural satellite.

The Moon is the fifth largest satellite in our solar system.

239,000 miles is the average distance between the Earth and the Moon, this does vary.

You can only see 59% of the Moon from the Earth.

14,658,000 square miles is the surface area of the Moon.

It orbits the Earth at 2,300 miles an hour.

The Moon’s gravity affects the tides on the Earth.

253-387F is the temperature range on the Moon.

When a month has two full moons in it the second Moon is called a blue moon.

It rotates at 10 miles an hour compared to the Earth’s rotation of 1000 miles an hour.

There is no wind on the Moon so any footprints made by astronauts are there to stay.

The heavy space suits worn by astronauts when they landed on the Moon weighed 180 pounds on Earth but only 30 pounds on the Moon due to the lower gravity.

Apollo 11 had only 20 seconds of fuel left when they landed on the Moon.

The top speed recorded in a four wheeled vehicle was 10.56 miles per hour.

February does not have a full moon, but then either January or March will have two full moons.

The Chinese call the dark shadows on the Moon ‘The toad in the moon’

The missions brought back a total of 2196 rock samples weighing 382kg.

We always see the same side of the Moon from the Earth.

The dark spots on the Moon are craters filled with basalt which is a very dense material.

The Moon is the only extraterrestrial body that humans have visited.

Luna 3 was built by the Soviet Union in October 1959 it was the first space craft to send back pictures from the Moon.

It has no global magnetic field.

The diameter of the Moon is about a quarter of the Earth’s diameter – about forty nine moons would fit inside the Earth.

If the Moon is directly above you and you are at the coast then you will see a high tide.

Neil Armstrong was the first man to walk on the Moon.

First quarter, last quarter, full moon and the new moon are the four phases of the Moon.

There are more than 300,000 craters on the Moon and that is on just one side.