It’s space week 2022 and to celebrate everything space we have a whole special series of not-so-romantic blogs dedicated to space. In this part, we look at some fun facts about the Moon- Earth’s only natural satellite.
A natural satellite is an object which orbits a Planet (or a thing) naturally. So because the Moon naturally orbits Earth it is a natural satellite. I feel like I’ve said natural satellite a lot of times in this paragraph…
This means that all the satellites that humans have sent to space and are orbiting aren’t natural satellites (I said it again!). It’s not a fun fact about our Moon but apparently, it is possible for a Moon to have its own Moon- just wanted to share that.
Okay, here we go. Fun facts about the Moon- let’s do this!
Sliding into the top 5!
The Moon is the fifth largest discovered Moon in the Solar System. The largest Moon in the Solar System is called Ganymede which is zooming around Jupiter.
A long way away
The Moon is about 240,000 miles away from Earth. If you were to walk constantly from the Earth’s surface to the Moon it would take you about 9 1/2 years- Is anybody up for a trek?
brace for impact
The Moon’s surface is littered with craters as it gets battered by comets and asteroids. The largest crater on the Moon is the South Pole–Aitken basin on the far side of the Moon. It’s between 4 and 5 miles deep. Knowing how clumsy I am I’d probably fall into it if I ever went to the Moon.
I’m grateful for Earth having an atmosphere that burns up the majority of asteroids and comets that try and crash into the surface.
what are you hiding?
From Earth’s surface, we always see the same side of the Moon. It wasn’t until 1959 that we saw the far side of the Moon in a photograph. Who knows what was going on the far side of the Moon before that?
A forever footprint
Have you ever left a dirty footprint on the floor and struggled to get rid of it? Well, spare a thought for the Moon. The footprints left by Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong on the Moon will be there for millions and millions of years because there isn’t any wind to blow them away.
exploration
Speaking of footprints the Moon is still the only other thing in our Solar System humans have visited apart from Earth. I wonder what the second will be? I reckon Mars.
please don’t leave us!
The Moon is actually getting further and further away from Earth. It moves nearly 4cm further away every year. Maybe we should make more of an effort?
12
Only 12 humans have ever walked on the Moon.
Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Charles Conrad, Alan Bean, Alan Shepard Jr., Edgar Mitchell, David Scott, James Irwin, John Young, Charles Duke, Eugene Cernan, Harrison Schitt.
All of these men are American. Talk about a monopoly.
the surface area of…?
The Moon’s surface area is the size of Africa.
can’t see
The Moon doesn’t have its own light source, it reflects the suns light which is why it looks so bright in the night sky.
Have we got enough flags?
There are six American flags on the Moon (in different places). Surely one flag would have done the job? I personally think someone should design a world flag and have that put on the Moon- it’s Earth’s Moon after all.
In 1967 international law was signed in that no nation could claim any space object, so the Moon (or anything in space) can never be owned by a single nation, but still- six flags is a bit over the top.
related blogs
If you’ve enjoyed these fun facts about the Moon then be sure to check out the similar blogs below.