Our Moon is our only natural satellite and is very precious to us, for without it life on Earth would not exist!- As the Moon orbits the Earth its gravitational pull causes the ocean's tides, which create small pools of water along some of the ocean's shores. Scientists believe that the ocean creatures that lived in these tidal pools millions of years ago eventually evolved into land animals.
- Our Moon is the 5th largest Moon in our Solar System. Pretty impressive considering that there are over 170 natural satellites in our Solar System.
- The Moon's Greek name is Luna.
- The official name of the Moon is the Moon, with a capital "M". This can be a little confusing, since other planets have orbiting moons but our Moon is the Moon.
- If the Earth were hollow you could fit 50 moon sized bodies inside it.
- The Earth's gravity is measured as 1 unit of gravity. The gravity on all other planets is taken as a multiple of Earth's.
- Because it is so much smaller, the gravity of the Moon is only 16.5% as strong as Earths. So objects on the Moon weigh much less than they do on Earth.
- A 100 lb person on Earth would only weigh 16.5 lbs on the Moon.
- The Moon does not orbit the Sun directly but rather it orbits the Sun while in orbit around the Earth.
- The Moon orbits the Earth in a synchronous rotation, meaning it always has the same face turned towards the Earth. It is impossible to see the far side of the Moon from Earth.
- Man's first glimpse of the far side of the Moon was in 1959 when the unmanned Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 orbited the Moon and took pictures of the far side.
- Even though we only see one side of the Moon we do not always see the entire face of the moon. The Moon transitions from New Moon to Half Moon to Full Moon as it orbits the Earth.
- A New Moon is the name given to the Moon when it is completely in shadow, so we cannot see it.
- A Full Moon is the name given to the Moon when we see it fully illuminated.
- As the Moon "grows" from a New Moon to a Full Moon it is said to be waxing. As it "shrinks" from a Full Moon to a New Moon it is said to be waning.
- Other names are also given to our Moon.
- The term Blue Moon is commonly used to describe the occurrence of two Full Moons in a month. The second Full Moon is the Blue Moon.
- The most widely accepted theory of the origin of the moon is the Impact Theory. This theory suggests that the Moon formed from the debris field caused by a collision between the Earth and a Mars-sized body, roughly 4.5 billion years ago.
- The first humans to orbit the Moon were the astronauts of Apollo 8, in 1968.
- The Moon is the only extraterrestrial body to have been visited by humans.
- Only 12 people have ever stepped foot on the Moon.
- The first two people to walk on the Moon were Apollo 11commander Neil Armstrong and his partner lunar module pilot, Buzz Aldrin.
- Neil Armstrong was the first person to set foot on the moon as he was first out of the Lunar Lander and down the ladder.
- The last two people to walk on the Moon were Apollo 17 commander Gene Cernan and his partner lunar module pilot, Harrison "Jack" Schmitt.
- Gene Cernan was the last person to actually stand on the moon, as he followed Jack Schmitt up the ladder and back into the Lunar Lander.
- The Moon has almost no atmosphere.
- The Moon does not have liquid water but it does have water ice at both of its poles.
- The Moon does not have a magnetic field.
- More than 100 space craft have been launched to study the Moon.
- Some day man may have a permanent base on the Moon and mine it for Helium-3, which could be burned in Earth based fusion reactors.
