Come get Mooned!
How was the moon made? What is it made of? How does it affect us?
Table of Contents How the moon was formed………………………………Page 1
Composition of the moon…………………………………Page 2
Timeline of missions to the moon…………………….Page 3
Phases of the moon………………………………………….Page 4
The moon’s effect on earth………………………………Page 5
Orbit of the moon…………………………………………….Page 6
How the Moon was Formed There are many theories of how the moon was formed. 1. The most widely accepted theory of how the moon was formed is the impact theory. The theory states that a rouge planet struck earth and caused a dust cloud 13,700 miles high. This cloud condensed into what is now the moon. 2. The Fission Theory: The Moon was once part of the Earth and somehow separated from the Earth early in the history of the Solar System. The present Pacific Ocean basin is the most popular site for the part of the Earth from which the Moon came.
3.The Capture Theory: The Moon was formed somewhere else, and was later captured by the gravitational field of the Earth. 4.The Colliding Planetesimals Theory: The interaction of earth-orbiting and Sun-orbiting planetesimals (very large chunks of rocks like asteroids) early in the history of the Solar System led to their breakup. The Moon condensed from this debris.
Composition of the Moon The moon is composed of many things that are found on Earth. Oxygen
42.6%
Magnesium
20.8%
Silicon
20.5%
Iron
9.9%
Calcium
2.31%
Aluminum
2.04%
Nickel
0.472%
Chromium
0.314%
Manganese
0.131%
Titanium
0.122%
The average distance from the Earth to the moon is 238,855 miles. The mass of the moon is 7.349x1022 kilograms.
Timeline and Missions to
of Manned Unmanned the Moon
June 2, 1966 - Surveyor 1 is the first U.S. spacecraft to soft-land on the Moon
July 20, 1969 - Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, Jr. make the first manned soft landing on the moon
April 11, 1970 - Apollo 13 is launched, suffering an explosion in its SM oxygen tanks. Its Moon landing is aborted, and the crew, James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr. and Fred W. Haise, Jr., return safely.
July 30, 1971 - Apollo 15 astronauts David Scott and James Irwin drive the first moon rover. The next year, Apollo 17 astronaut Harrison Schmitt drives a similar rover
Phases of the Moon The phases of the moon are caused by its position relative to Earth and Sun.
So the basic explanation is that the lunar phases are created by changing angles (relative positions) of the earth, the moon and the sun, as the moon orbits the earth.
The Moon’s Effect on Earth
The gravitational attraction that the Moon exerts on Earth is the cause of tides in the sea.
The moon keeps earth’s rotation on its axis stable. It also allows the earth to have four distinct seasons without going from one extreme to another.
The Orbit of the Moon The orbit of the Moon is very nearly circular (eccentricity ~ 0.05) The Moon appears to move completely around the celestial sphere once in about 27.3 days as observed from the Earth; this
is called a sidereal month, and reflects the corresponding orbital period of 27.3 days