The moon
By:
Destiny fruchey
I had the ambition to not only go farther than man had gone before, but to go as far as it
was possible to go.
- Captain Cook
Moon statistics
Mass (kg) 7.349e+22
Mass (Earth = 1) 1.2298e-02
Equatorial radius (km) 1,737.4
Equatorial radius (Earth = 1) 2.7241e-01
Mean density (gm/cm^3) 3.34
Mean distance from Earth (km) 384,400
Rotational period (days) 27.32166
Orbital period (days) 27.32166
Average length of lunar day (days) 29.53059
Mean orbital velocity (km/sec) 1.03
Orbital eccentricity 0.0549
Tilt of axis (degrees) 1.5424
Orbital inclination (degrees) 5.1454
Equatorial surface gravity (m/sec^2) 1.62
Equatorial escape velocity (km/sec) 2.38
Visual geometric albedo 0.12
Magnitude (Vo) -12.74
Mean surface temperature (day) 107°C
Mean surface temperature (night) -153°C
Maximum surface temperature 123°C
Minimum surface temperature -233°C
views of the moon
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/moonint.jpg
The Lunar Interior
This picture shows the 3 major divisions of the Lunar interior, the crust, mantle, and core.
The lunar crust thickness varies from tens of kilometers in depth (under mare basins)
to more than 100 kilometers in some highland regions, with an average thickness of about
70 kilometers. The core radius is between 300 and 425 kilometers.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/2004lunareclipse.jpg
2004 Lunar Eclipse
On Wednesday October 27, 2004 the moon passed into Earth's shadow for more than three hours.
It began at 9:14 p.m EST with totality beginning at 10:23 p.m. and ending at 11:45 p.m.
The eclipse passed out of Earth shadow at 00:54 a.m
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/moon1.gif
Apollo 17 - Whole Moon View
This full disc of the Moon was photographed by the Apollo 17 crew during their trans-Earth
coast homeward following a successful lunar landing mission in December 1972.
Mare seen on this photo include Serentatis, Tranquillitatis, Nectaris, Foecunditatis
and Crisium.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/moonfls1.jpg
Moon - False Color Mosaic
This false-color photograph of the Moon was taken by the Galileo spacecraft on December 8, 1992.
The false-color processing used to create this lunar image is helpful for interpreting the
surface soil composition. Areas appearing red generally correspond to the lunar highlands,
while blue to orange shades indicate the ancient volcanic lava flow of a mare, or lunar sea.
Bluer mare areas contain more titanium than do the orange regions. Mare Tranquillitatis,
seen as a deep blue patch on the right, is richer in titanium than Mare Serenitatis,
a slightly smaller circular area immediately adjacent to the upper left of Mare
Tranquillitatis. Blue and orange areas covering much of the left side of the Moon in this
view represent many separate lava flows in Oceanus Procellarum. The small purple areas
found near the center are pyroclastic deposits formed by explosive volcanic eruptions.
The fresh crater Tycho, with a diameter of 85 kilometers (53 miles),
is prominent at the bottom of the photograph.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/farside.gif
Far Side of the Moon
This image was taken by Apollo 11 astronauts in 1969. It shows a portion of the Moon's
heavily cratered far side. The large crater is approximately 80 km ( 50 miles ) in diameter.
The rugged terrain seen here is typical of the farside of the Moon.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/clmsouth.jpg
Lunar South Pole
This mosaic is composed of 1,500 Clementine images of the south polar region of the Moon.
The top half of the mosaic faces Earth. Clementine has revealed what appears to be a major
depression near the lunar south pole (center), evident from the presence of extensive
shadows around the pole. This depression probably is an ancient basin formed by the impact
of an asteroid or comet. A significant portion of the dark area near the pole may be in
permanent shadow, and sufficiently cold to trap water of cometary origin in the form of ice.
The impact basin Schrodinger (near the 4 o'clock position) is a two-ring basin, about 320
kilometers (200 miles) in diameter which is recognized to be the second youngest impact
basin on the Moon. The center of Schrodinger is flooded by lavas. A volcanic vent seen in
the floor of Schrodinger is one of the largest single explosive volcanoes on the Moon.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/apollo11.gif
The Apollo 11
Lunar Module (LM) ascent stage, with Astronauts Neil A.
Armstrong and Edwin E. Aldrin Jr. aboard, is photographed from the Command and Service
Module (CSM) during rendezvous in lunar orbit. The LM was making its docking approach to
the CSM. Astronaut Michael Collins remained with the CSM in lunar orbit while the other
two crewmen explored the lunar surface. The large, dark-colored area in the background is
Smyth's Sea, centered at 85 degrees east longitude and 2 degrees south latitude on the
lunar surface (nearside). This view looks west. The Earth rises above the lunar horizon.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/moonflag.gif
Apollo 11 - Flag
Astronaut Edwin E. Aldrin Jr., lunar module pilot, poses for a photograph beside the
deployed United States flag during Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on the lunar surface.
The Lunar Module Eagle is on the left. The footprints of the astronauts are clearly
visible in the soil of the Moon. This picture was taken by Astronaut Neil A. Armstrong,
commander, with a 70mm lunar surface camera.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/earthris.gif
Apollo 11 - Earth from the Moon
This view of the Earth rising over the Moon's horizon was taken from the Apollo 11
spacecraft. The lunar terrain pictured is in the area of Smyth's Sea on the nearside.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/footprnt.gif
Apollo 11 - Footprint on the Moon
A close-up view of an astronaut's footprint in the lunar soil, photographed with a 70mm
lunar surface camera during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity (EVA) on the Moon.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/rover.gif
Apollo 15 - Lunar Roving Vehicle
This is a view of the Lunar Roving Vehicle photographed alone against the desolate lunar
background during an Apollo 15 lunar surface extravehicular activity (EVA)
at the Hadley-Apennine landing site. This view is looking north. The west edge of Mount
Hadley is at the upper right edge of the picture. Mount Hadley rises approximately 4,500
meters (14,800 feet) above the plain. The most distant lunar feature visible is
approximately 25 kilometers (16 miles) away.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/moon.gif
Apollo 17 - Taurus-Littrow Landing Site
This is the landing site of the last Apollo mission (Apollo 17). It was in the valley
among the Taurus-Littrow hills on the southeastern rim of Mare Serenitatis. Astronauts
Eugene Cernan and Harrison H. Schmitt explored the valley with the aid of an electrically
powered car. This image shows Schmitt inspecting a huge boulder that has rolled down the
side of an adjacent hill.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/boulder.gif
Apollo 17 - Large Lunar Boulder
Earth in the far distant background is seen above a large lunar boulder on the Moon.
This photo was taken with a handheld Hasselblad camera by the last two Moon walkers in the
Apollo Program.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/moon2.gif
Apollo 17 - Lunar Scape
This image is an excellent view of the desolate lunar space at Station 4 showing
scientist-astronaut Harrison H. Schmitt, lunar module pilot, working at the Lunar Roving
Vehicle during the second Apollo 17 extravehicular activity at the Taurus-Littrow landing
site. This is the area where Schmitt first spotted the orange soil which is visible on
either side of the Lunar Roving Vehicle in this picture. Shorty Crater is to the right,
and the peak in the center background is Family Mountain. A portion of South Massif is on
the horizon at the left edge.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/moondust.gif
Apollo 17 - Orange Soil
These orange glass spheres and fragments are the finest particles ever brought back from
the Moon. The particles range in size from 20 to 45 microns. The orange soil was brought
back from the Taurus-Littrow landing site by the apollo 17 crewmen. Scientist-Astronaut
Harrison J. Schmitt discovered the orange soil at Shorty Crater. The orange particles,
which are intermixed with black and black-speckled grains, are about the same size as the
particles that compose silt on Earth. Chemical analysis of the orange soil material has
show the sample to be similar to some of the samples brought back from the Apollo 11
(Sea of Tranquility) site several hundred miles to the southwest. Like those samples,
it is rich in titanium (8%) and iron oxide (22%). But unlike the Apollo 11 samples, the
orange soil is unexplainably rich in zinc. The orange soil is probably of volcanic origin
and not the product of meteorite impact.
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/coper2.jpg
Limb of Copernicus Impact Crater
This image of Copernicus was acquired on the Lunar Orbiter 5 Mission. Copernicus is 93
kilometers wide and is located within the Mare Imbrium Basin, northern nearside of the
Moon (10° N, 20° degrees W.). Image shows crater floor, floor mounds, rim, and rayed ejecta.
Rays from the ejecta are superposed on all other surrounding terrains which places the
crater in its namesake age group: the Copernican system, established as the youngest
assemblage of rocks on the Moon (Shoemaker and Hackman, 1962, The Moon: London, Academic
Press, p.289-300).
look at this web to see the pic.
http://www.solarviews.com/thumb/moon/coper.gif
Apollo 17 - Oblique view of Copernicus
This is an oblique view of the large crater Copernicus on the lunar nearside, as
phtographed from the Apollo 17 spacecraft in lunar orbit.
Neil A. Armstrong
Neil Alden Armstrong was born on August 5, 1930 in Wapakoneta, Ohio. He has two college
degrees. He has a bachelors degree in aerospace engineering from Purdue University.
He also has a masters degree in aeronautical engineering from the University of Southern
California. Armstrong was a navy pilot from 1949 to 1952. After leaving the navy, he
worked as a test pilot. Neil Armstrong was a test pilot when he was chosen to be an
astronaut. His first space flight was aboard Gemini 8 in 1966. In July of 1969, Armstrong
was launched aboard Apollo 11. Apollo 11 was America's first attempt to land a manned
vehicle on the Moon. On July 20, Neil Armstrong became the first person to set foot on the
Moon. His first words after touching the Moon's surface were "That's one small step for
man, one giant leap for mankind." Armstrong left NASA in 1971. Since leaving NASA he has
taught engineering in college, served as an advisor on space issues, and been involved in
business. He is married and has two children. He lives quietly in Ohio.
look at this pic of Neil A. Armstrong
http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/Images/StarChild/scientists/armstrong.jpg
Wow!
As a test pilot, Neil Armstrong made 7 flights in the X-15 aircraft. He was able to attain
an altitude of 63,198 meters (207,500 feet
look at these pic of Neil A. Armstrong
http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/armstron/images/neil1.jpg
http://www.ohiohistory.org/places/armstron/images/moonflag.jpg
the moon
A pic of the moon!
http://www.nineplanets.org/moons/Luna3.jpg
The Moon has fascinated mankind throughout the ages. By simply viewing with the naked eye,
one can discern two major types of terrain: relatively bright highlands and darker plains.
By the middle of the 17th century, Galileo and other early astronomers made telescopic
observations, noting an almost endless overlapping of craters. It has also been known for
more than a century that the Moon is less dense than the Earth. Although a certain amount
of information was ascertained about the Moon before the space age, this new era has
revealed many secrets barely imaginable before that time. Current knowledge of the Moon is
greater than for any other solar system object except Earth. This lends to a greater
understanding of geologic processes and further appreciation of the complexity of
terrestrial planets.
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to step onto the surface of the
Moon. He was followed by Edwin Aldrin, both of the Apollo 11 mission. They and other moon
walkers experienced the effects of no atmosphere. Radio communications were used because
sound waves can only be heard by travelling through the medium of air. The lunar sky is
always black because diffraction of light requires an atmosphere. The astronauts also
experienced gravitational differences. The moon's gravity is one-sixth that of the
Earth's; a man who weighs 180 lbf (pound-force) on Earth weighs only 30 lbf on the Moon.
(The equivalent metric weight (or force) is the Newton, where 4.45 Newtons equal one
pound-force.)
The Moon is 384,403 kilometers (238,857 miles) distant from the Earth. Its diameter is
3,476 kilometers (2,160 miles). Both the rotation of the Moon and its revolution around
Earth takes 27 days, 7 hours, and 43 minutes. This synchronous rotation is caused by an
unsymmetrical distribution of mass in the Moon, which has allowed Earth's gravity to keep
one lunar hemisphere permanently turned toward Earth. Optical librations have been
observed telescopically since the mid-17th century. Very small but real librations
(maximum about 0°.04) are caused by the effect of the Sun's gravity and the eccentricity
of Earth's orbit, perturbing the Moon's orbit and allowing cyclical preponderances of
torque in both east-west and north-south directions.
Four nuclear powered seismic stations were installed during the Apollo project to collect
seismic data about the interior of the Moon. There is only residual tectonic activity due
to cooling and tidal forcing, but other moonquakes have been caused by meteor impacts and
artificial means, such as deliberately crashing the Lunar Module into the moon. The
results have shown the Moon to have a crust 60 kilometers (37 miles) thick at the center
of the near side. If this crust is uniform over the Moon, it would constitute about 10% of
the Moon's volume as compared to the less than 1% on Earth. The seismic determinations of
a crust and mantle on the Moon indicate a layered planet with differentiation by igneous
processes. There is no evidence for an iron-rich core unless it were a small one. Seismic
information has influenced theories about the formation and evolution of the Moon.
The Moon was heavily bombarded early in its history, which caused many of the original
rocks of the ancient crust to be thoroughly mixed, melted, buried, or obliterated.
Meteoritic impacts brought a variety of "exotic" rocks to the Moon so that samples
obtained from only 9 locations produced many different rock types for study. The impacts
also exposed Moon rocks of great depth and distributed their fragments laterally away from
their places of origin, making them more accessible. The underlying crust was also
thinned and cracked, allowing molten basalt from the interior to reach the surface.
Because the Moon has neither an atmosphere nor any water, the components in the soils do
not weather chemically as they would on Earth. Rocks more than 4 billion years old still
exist there, yielding information about the early history of the solar system that is
unavailable on Earth. Geological activity on the Moon consists of occasional large impacts
and the continued formation of the regolith. It is thus considered geologically dead. With
such an active early history of bombardment and a relatively abrupt end of heavy impact
activity, the Moon is considered fossilized in time.
The Apollo and Luna missions returned 382 kilograms (840 pounds) of rock and soil from
which three major surface materials have been studied: the regolith, the maria, and the
terrae. Micrometeorite bombardment has thoroughly pulverized the surface rocks into a
fine-grained debris called the regolith. The regolith, or lunar soil, is unconsolidated
mineral grains, rock fragments, and combinations of these which have been welded by
impact-generated glass. It is found over the entire Moon, with the exception of steep
crater and valley walls. It is 2 to 8 meters (7 to 26 feet) thick on the maria and may
exceed 15 meters (49 feet) on the terrae, depending on how long the bedrock underneath it
has been exposed to meteoritic bombardment.
The dark, relatively lightly cratered maria cover about 16% of the lunar surface and is
concentrated on the nearside of the Moon, mostly within impact basins. This concentration
may be explained by the fact that the Moon's center of mass is offset from its geometric
center by about 2 kilometers (1.2 miles) in the direction of Earth, probably because the
crust is thicker on the farside. It is possible, therefore, that basalt magmas rising from
the interior reached the surface easily on the nearside, but encountered difficulty on the
farside. Mare rocks are basalt and most date from 3.8 to 3.1 billion years. Some fragments
in highland breccias date to 4.3 billion years and high resolution photographs suggest
some mare flows actually embay young craters and may thus be as young as 1 billion years.
The maria average only a few hundred meters in thickness but are so massive they
frequently deformed the crust underneath them which created fault-like depressions and
raised ridges.
The relatively bright, heavily cratered highlands are called terrae. The craters and
basins in the highlands are formed by meteorite impact and are thus older than the maria,
having accumulated more craters. The dominant rock type in this region contain high
contents of plagioclase feldspar (a mineral rich in calcium and aluminum) and are a
mixture of crustal fragments brecciated by meteorite impacts. Most terrae breccias are
composed of still older breccia fragments. Other terrae samples are fine-grained
crystalline rocks formed by shock melting due to the high pressures of an impact event.
Nearly all of the highland breccias and impact melts formed about 4.0 to 3.8 billion years
ago. The intense bombardment began 4.6 billion years ago, which is the estimated time of
the Moon's origin.
(lol rofl )
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