97 Fun Facts About The Moon

How long does it take the Moon to orbit the Earth once?

The Moon takes about 27.3 days to circle Earth relative to the fixed stars, the period known as the sidereal month.

What is the name of the first human to walk on the Moon?

Neil Armstrong stepped off Apollo 11's lunar module onto the Moon on 20–21 July 1969, about 19 minutes before Buzz Aldrin followed him down the ladder.

What causes the phases of the Moon?

How much of the sunlit half faces Earth is all that changes; Earth's shadow only reaches the Moon during a lunar eclipse.

What is the average distance from the Earth to the Moon, whose orbit is slightly elliptical?

The average is about 238,900 miles (384,400 km), varying slightly because the Moon's orbit is elliptical.

Which lunar plain did Luna 9, Surveyor 1 and Apollo 12 all land on?

Oceanus Procellarum, the Ocean of Storms, is the largest lunar mare, over 2,500 km long; Luna 9 (1966), Surveyor 1 (1966) and Apollo 12 (1969) all touched down on it.

Which numbered NASA mission was the first to land humans on the Moon?

Apollo 11's lunar module touched down on July 20, 1969; Apollo 8 only orbited the Moon and Apollo 10 flew the landing's dress rehearsal without touching down.

What is the term for the Moon's near side always facing Earth?

Tidal locking (or synchronous rotation) means the Moon's rotation period matches its orbital period, so the same hemisphere always faces Earth.

What name is given to the second full Moon in a single calendar month?

A Blue Moon is the colloquial term for the second full Moon occurring within a single calendar month. Despite the name, it does not appear blue.

Which theory is most widely accepted for how the Moon came to exist?

The giant impact hypothesis holds that a Mars-sized body struck the early Earth and the ejected debris coalesced into the Moon; Apollo samples' oxygen isotopes matching Earth's mantle made it the front-runner.

The Moon's gravity is approximately what fraction of Earth's gravity?

The Moon's surface gravity is about 1.62 m/s², roughly 1/6 of Earth's 9.81 m/s²; among Solar System moons only Jupiter's Io pulls harder.

Which spacecraft made the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, in 2019?

Chang'e 4 touched down in Von Kármán crater on 3 January 2019; because the far side never faces Earth, China first parked the Queqiao relay satellite beyond the Moon to carry its signals home.

How many humans walked on the Moon during the Apollo program?

Twelve men walked on the Moon across Apollo's six landings (11, 12, 14, 15, 16 and 17), two per mission, between July 1969 and December 1972.

What is a lunar eclipse?

In a lunar eclipse the Moon passes through Earth's shadow, which can only happen at full Moon; a total eclipse can run nearly four hours from first to last contact with the umbra.

Which NASA program, begun in 2017, was created to return humans to the Moon?

Artemis, named for Apollo's twin sister in Greek mythology, was established in December 2017; its uncrewed first flight, Artemis I, looped around the Moon in November 2022.

Stepping onto the Moon, Buzz Aldrin summed up the view in which two words?

Buzz Aldrin called the view 'magnificent desolation' moments after stepping off the ladder; he reused the words as the title of his 2009 memoir about the depression that followed his return.

How wide is the Moon's disc, edge to edge?

At 2,159 miles (3,474 km), it spans about a quarter of Earth's width, roughly the size of mainland Australia.

Which Apollo astronaut stayed in lunar orbit while his crewmates walked on the Moon during Apollo 11?

Michael Collins orbited alone in the command module Columbia, losing radio contact with Earth for about 48 minutes on every pass behind the Moon while his two crewmates were on the surface.

What are the Moon's dark, flat plains, formed by lava flooding ancient impact basins, called?

The maria (seas) are iron-rich basalt that reflects less light than the highlands, and Chinese poets were describing their pattern as a rabbit more than two thousand years ago.

Which numbered mission was the last of NASA's Apollo lunar landings?

Apollo 17, in December 1972, closed out the Apollo landings; its crew spent about 75 hours on the surface, over 22 of them on moonwalks, and brought home about 110 kg of samples.

What phenomenon occurs when the Moon is closest to Earth in its orbit?

Perigee is the point in the Moon's orbit where it is closest to Earth (about 226,000 miles). When a full Moon coincides with perigee, it is popularly called a 'supermoon.'

Which lunar plain did Apollo 11's lunar module set down on in July 1969?

Mare Tranquillitatis, the Sea of Tranquility, received Eagle on 20 July 1969, and the spot is now known as Tranquility Base.

What is the largest crater on the Moon?

The South Pole-Aitken Basin is the largest known impact crater on the Moon, stretching about 1,550 miles (2,500 km) in diameter and roughly 5 miles deep. It is one of the largest impact structures in the Solar System.

Which country was the first to land a spacecraft on the Moon?

The Soviet Union's Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to achieve a soft landing on the Moon on February 3, 1966, three years before the first crewed landing.

In Roman mythology, who was the goddess of the Moon?

Luna's name survives in 'lunar' and 'lunatic'; her temple stood on the Aventine Hill, just below one dedicated to Diana.

What is the Moon's surface temperature during the lunar day (in direct sunlight)?

In full sunlight the lunar surface reaches about 250°F (120°C); with no air to spread the heat, the same spot plunges to roughly -280°F (-173°C) during the two-week lunar night.

Who was the last Apollo astronaut to climb off the lunar surface?

Eugene Cernan followed Harrison Schmitt up the ladder on 14 December 1972, ending Apollo 17's final moonwalk; like the first moonwalker, Cernan was a Purdue University graduate.

What causes tides on Earth?

The Moon's pull is slightly stronger on the near side of Earth than the far side, which stretches the oceans into two bulges rather than one.

On the Moon, what is regolith?

Billions of years of meteorite hits ground the bedrock into it; the finest fraction is so sharp and clingy that it wore through Apollo suit layers.

What element is the Moon's crust primarily composed of?

Around 45% by weight, all of it locked into silicate and oxide minerals, which is why lunar rock is often discussed as a future source of breathable air.

What callsign did the Apollo 11 Lunar Module carry?

Each Apollo lander had its own callsign; Apollo 11's gave Armstrong his line on July 20, 1969: 'The Eagle has landed'.

Which Indian spacecraft successfully landed near the Moon's south pole in August 2023?

Chandrayaan-3 successfully soft-landed near the Moon's south pole on August 23, 2023, making India the fourth country to land on the Moon and the first to land near the south polar region.

How long is one complete lunar day (sunrise to sunrise)?

A lunar day lasts about 29.5 Earth days, the synodic month, slightly longer than the 27.3-day sidereal orbit because Earth has moved along its own path and the Moon must catch up with the Sun.

What is the name of the Mars-sized body theorized to have collided with early Earth to form the Moon?

Theia is named for the Titan who in Greek myth was mother of the Moon goddess; models of the giant impact suggest Theia's iron core sank and merged with Earth's.

What did Apollo astronauts leave on the Moon for laser measurement of its distance?

Three arrays were placed by Apollo 11, 14 and 15, and observatories have fired lasers at them ever since to track the Earth-Moon distance to millimetres.

Which numbered NASA mission aborted its lunar landing after an oxygen tank explosion?

Apollo 13's oxygen tank ruptured in April 1970 when a routine stir ignited damaged wire insulation; the crew survived by using the lunar module Aquarius as a lifeboat.

What is the term for when the Moon passes directly between the Earth and the Sun?

A solar eclipse occurs when the Moon passes between the Earth and the Sun, blocking sunlight. The Moon's shadow falls on Earth, and viewers within that shadow see the Sun partially or totally blocked.

What do planetary scientists call permanently shadowed polar craters where ice survives for aeons?

Cold traps are permanently shadowed polar craters that never see sunlight and stay colder than about -160°C, so ice survives there; NASA's LCROSS impactor confirmed water ice in one in 2009.

Approximately how old is the Moon?

The Moon is approximately 4.5 billion years old, roughly the same age as Earth. This age has been determined through radiometric dating of lunar rock samples brought back by Apollo missions.

Which Apollo mission first drove NASA's electric moon buggy?

Apollo 15's David Scott and James Irwin drove the first Lunar Roving Vehicle in July 1971, ranging kilometres from the lander; three rovers flew, one each on Apollo 15, 16 and 17.

What is the Moon slowly doing to its orbit around Earth each year?

The Moon is drifting outward about 3.8 cm a year, a recession tracked by lunar laser ranging since 1969; the energy comes from Earth's tides, which are slowly braking our planet's rotation.

In Greek mythology, who was the goddess of the Moon?

Selene was the Greek goddess who personified the Moon. She was depicted driving a silver chariot across the night sky. Artemis was later associated with the Moon, but Selene was the original Moon deity.

Astronomically, what defines the Harvest Moon?

The Harvest Moon is the full Moon nearest the autumn equinox; it can fall up to two weeks either side of the equinox, so it is sometimes a September Moon and sometimes an October one.

What type of rock makes up most of the Moon's highland regions?

Anorthosite, a pale rock made mostly of plagioclase feldspar, floated to the top of the Moon's early global magma ocean, which is why the highlands look bright.

What did NASA's Artemis program plan the Lunar Gateway to be?

The Lunar Gateway was designed as a small space station in a near-rectilinear halo orbit around the Moon, with European, Japanese, Canadian and Emirati partners contributing modules.

What is the phenomenon called when a total lunar eclipse turns the Moon reddish?

A Blood Moon is the copper-red Moon of a total lunar eclipse: Earth's atmosphere refracts red light into the shadow cone, the same scattering that reddens sunsets.

Which astronaut hit golf balls on the Moon?

Alan Shepard, commanding Apollo 14 in February 1971, swung a makeshift six-iron one-handed because of his stiff suit and joked that the second ball went 'miles and miles and miles'.

What percentage of the Moon's surface is visible from Earth over time?

About 59% of the lunar surface is visible from Earth over time; the extra 9% comes from libration, an apparent wobble from the Moon's tilted, slightly elliptical orbit that peeks around both limbs each month.

What is the name of the mineral discovered in Moon rock samples brought back by Apollo 11?

Armalcolite is stitched from the surnames of Apollo 11's crew, ARMstrong, ALdrin and COLlins; first found in the 1969 samples, the titanium-iron-magnesium oxide has since turned up on Earth too.

Apollo 12's crew landed within walking distance of which earlier robotic probe?

Surveyor 3 had soft-landed in April 1967; Apollo 12's Conrad and Bean walked about 160 metres to it on their second moonwalk and cut off parts, including its TV camera, to bring home.

What struck Apollo 12's Saturn V twice shortly after its rainy-day launch?

Lightning hit Apollo 12 twice during its rainy-day launch, knocking out instrumentation but causing little lasting damage; the mission went on to a pinpoint landing.

Pete Conrad's first words on the Moon settled a $500 bet with which reporter?

Oriana Fallaci had asked whether NASA scripted Armstrong's line, so Conrad bet her $500 and joked that the step was a small one for Neil but a long one for him.

Apollo 14 touched down in which lunar formation in February 1971?

Shepard and Mitchell touched down in the Fra Mauro formation on 5 February 1971, near Cone crater, a hilly site chosen for its ejecta from the Imbrium basin impact.

Apollo 15's crew landed beside which meandering lunar channel?

Hadley Rille, a sinuous channel about 135 km long carved by flowing lava, lies at the foot of the Apennine Mountains where Scott and Irwin landed in July 1971.

David Scott dropped a hammer and what else on the Moon to demonstrate Galileo's theory?

Scott let a falcon feather and a geology hammer fall together; with no air to slow either, both struck the surface at the same instant, as Galileo had predicted centuries earlier.

Apollo 16 explored which highland region, expected (wrongly) to be volcanic?

Young and Duke's samples from the Descartes Highlands turned out to be impact breccias, not volcanic rock, overturning the theory that had picked the site.

Which Apollo moonwalker was the only professional geologist to reach the lunar surface?

Harrison Schmitt, a Harvard-trained geologist, flew on Apollo 17 in December 1972 and later served one term as a US senator from New Mexico (1977–83).

Apollo 17's crew landed in which valley, chosen for suspected volcanic features?

Taurus-Littrow, a valley on the southeastern rim of Mare Serenitatis, was picked after orbital photos hinted at volcanism; Cernan and Schmitt landed there on 11 December 1972.

At which crater did Apollo 17's astronauts discover bright orange soil?

Schmitt spotted the orange soil at Shorty crater during Apollo 17's second moonwalk; the colour came from tiny beads of volcanic glass, evidence of fire-fountain eruptions early in the Moon's history.

Orbiting the Moon on Christmas Eve 1968, Apollo 8's crew read from which book?

The three astronauts each read a section of the creation story from Genesis 1, verses 1–10, during a live television broadcast on 24 December 1968.

Which astronaut took the famous 'Earthrise' photograph from lunar orbit in 1968?

William Anders shot Earthrise on 24 December 1968 with a modified Hasselblad; the credit was long given to commander Frank Borman, but a 2013 NASA reconstruction confirmed all three frames were Anders's.

In what year did Luna 2 become the first human-made object to hit the Moon?

Luna 2 struck the Moon on 14 September 1959, carrying pennants engraved with 'USSR September 1959' and releasing a sodium vapour cloud so its path could be tracked by eye.

Scientists at which English observatory decoded Luna 9's first surface pictures?

Jodrell Bank's radio telescope picked up Luna 9's signal in February 1966; staff realised it matched the standard newspaper picture-fax format, and the Daily Express printed the images before the Soviets did.

How much lunar soil did the robotic Luna 16 bring back to Earth in 1970?

Luna 16 scooped 101 grams from Mare Fecunditatis in September 1970, the first robotic sample return and only the third lunar sample return of any kind, after Apollo 11 and 12.

Built for three lunar days, how many Earth days did the first Moon rover run?

Lunokhod 1, delivered by Luna 17 in November 1970, ran for 321 Earth days, eleven lunar days, and trundled 10.54 km across Mare Imbrium.

Which probe made the first American soft landing on the Moon, in June 1966?

Surveyor 1 soft-landed on 2 June 1966, four months after the Soviets' Luna 9, and returned more than 11,000 photographs of its landing site over the following six weeks.

Ranger 7 in 1964 was the first NASA probe to do what?

It was built to crash, snapping pictures with six TV cameras for the final 17 minutes before impact.

Luna 3's 1959 far-side photos revealed a dark region named after which city?

Mare Moscoviense, the Sea of Moscow, is one of the very few maria on the far side, which is strikingly more mountainous than the face we see.

The bright rayed crater Tycho is named after an astronomer from which country?

At roughly 108 million years old, Tycho is young by lunar standards, and its rays streak across much of the near side.

NASA's LCROSS impactor confirmed water ice in which south-polar crater in 2009?

LCROSS slammed its spent Centaur upper stage into Cabeus on 9 October 2009, and the shepherding craft flew through the debris plume and detected water in it before hitting the Moon itself.

China's Chang'e 5 in 2020 was the first lunar sample return since which year?

The Soviet Luna 24 had been the last, in August 1976; Chang'e 5 brought home about 1.7 kg in December 2020, making China the third nation to return Moon material.

What nickname did Japan's SLIM lander earn for its precision-landing goal?

SLIM was dubbed the 'Moon Sniper' for its goal of landing within 100 m of its target; it touched down about 55 m away in January 2024, making Japan the fifth nation to soft-land on the Moon.

Which mannequin rode NASA's uncrewed Orion capsule around the Moon in 2022?

Captain Moonikin Campos, named for NASA electrical engineer Arturo Campos, rode Artemis I around the Moon in November 2022 wearing an Orion flight suit fitted with radiation sensors.

The word 'supermoon' was coined in 1979 by a member of which profession?

Astrologer Richard Nolle's term has no precise astronomical definition, which is why outlets disagree about how many supermoons occur each year.

India's first lunar probe, Chandrayaan-1, is credited with discovering what in 2009?

Chandrayaan-1's M3 spectrometer found widespread water and hydroxyl across the lunar surface, announced in September 2009; the orbiter lasted 312 days and fired an impact probe bearing the Indian flag into the south pole.

Which country's Beresheet lander crashed on the Moon in April 2019?

Israel's Beresheet, built by SpaceIL and named for the Hebrew word for Genesis, crashed on 11 April 2019 after a gyroscope failure led to an engine cut-out; it carried dehydrated tardigrades in a time capsule.

Intuitive Machines' Odysseus, the first private lander on the Moon, ended up how?

Despite the awkward lean after its February 2024 touchdown, all payloads kept working and NASA called the mission a success.

Which company's Blue Ghost became the first fully successful commercial Moon lander?

Firefly Aerospace's Blue Ghost touched down upright on 2 March 2025 and ran ten NASA experiments for two weeks until the lunar night drained its batteries.

Which command module pilot carried about 500 tree seeds around the Moon in 1971?

Stuart Roosa, a former Forest Service smokejumper, carried about 500 seeds of five species on Apollo 14; germinated back on Earth, the resulting 'Moon trees' were planted across the US.

Which company built the Lunar Roving Vehicle driven on the last three Apollo missions?

Boeing was prime contractor for the 210-kg Lunar Roving Vehicle, delivering the first in 1971; Cernan drove one at 11.2 mph (18 km/h) on Apollo 17, the unofficial lunar speed record.

Which aerospace company built the Apollo Lunar Module?

Grumman, of Bethpage, New York, built the two-stage Lunar Module; its development ran months late, yet the lander proved the most reliable element of the Apollo stack, never failing in flight.

NASA's Lunar Prospector carried the ashes of which scientist to the Moon in 1998?

Eugene Shoemaker, co-discoverer of comet Shoemaker–Levy 9, died in 1997; Lunar Prospector carried a capsule of his ashes and was steered into a south-polar crater, later named Shoemaker, in July 1999.

Japan's SELENE orbiter's nickname, Kaguya, comes from a princess in which folktale?

The public picked the name; in the tale the princess is found inside a bamboo stalk and eventually returns to the Moon.

Apollo 10's lunar module, flown to within miles of the surface, had which call sign?

Apollo 10's lunar module Snoopy flew to within 15 km of the surface in May 1969 while the command module Charlie Brown waited; on the way home the crew set a human speed record of 39,897 km/h.

The first meteorite recognised as coming from the Moon was found in 1982 where?

Allan Hills 81005, picked up in Antarctica in January 1982, was matched to Apollo samples; lunar meteorites found since have come from Antarctica and the hot deserts of North Africa and Oman.

Which lunar sea on the western limb famously resembles a bullseye target?

Mare Orientale's concentric rings, spanning about 930 km, are hard to appreciate from Earth because they sit right on the western edge of the visible disc.

An early Moon-hoax book, 'We Never Went to the Moon', was self-published in 1976 by whom?

Kaysing had worked at a rocket engine contractor but had no technical background, and his claims seeded most later theories.

Which 2024 mission was the first to return samples from the far side of the Moon?

Chang'e 6 landed inside Apollo crater on the far side in June 2024 and returned about 1.9 kg of material; every previous lunar sample had come from the near side.

How far did the Soviet rover Lunokhod 2 travel in 1973, a record that stood for decades?

Lunokhod 2 covered about 39 km over four months in 1973, a figure refined using Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter images of its tracks; the record stood until NASA's Opportunity passed it on Mars in 2014.

The last Soviet lunar mission, Luna 24, returned samples from which lunar sea?

Luna 24 brought back 170 grams from Mare Crisium, the Sea of Crises; no spacecraft would land on or hit the Moon again until Japan's Hiten was crashed into it in 1993.

Which 1967 pact bars any nation from claiming sovereignty over the Moon?

The Outer Space Treaty opened for signature in Washington, London and Moscow on 27 January 1967; its Article II bars national appropriation, so planting a flag confers no ownership.

The 1902 film 'A Trip to the Moon' was written, directed and produced by which filmmaker?

Georges Méliès, a Paris stage magician turned filmmaker, built the 1902 film on Jules Verne's novels; its image of a capsule lodged in the Man in the Moon's eye became one of cinema's first icons.

Whose 1647 book 'Selenographia' contained the first detailed map of the Moon?

Johannes Hevelius, a wealthy brewer and city councillor of Danzig (Gdańsk), drew the Selenographia maps from his own rooftop observatory; many of his names for lunar mountain ranges survive.

Which were the first plants ever to sprout on the Moon, aboard the 2019 far-side lander?

The sealed canister also held potato and rapeseed, yeast and fruit-fly eggs; the sprouts died when the lunar night set in.

Roughly how far is the Moon's orbit tilted from the plane of Earth's orbit?

The Moon's orbit is inclined about 5.1° to the ecliptic; that modest tilt means the Moon usually passes above or below the Sun's line, so eclipses do not happen every month.

The Moon's mass is roughly what percentage of Earth's?

At about 1.2% of Earth's mass, roughly 1/81, the Moon is the largest moon in the Solar System relative to its parent planet and outweighs every known dwarf planet.

Who drew the Moon through a telescope in mid-1609 but never published the sketch?

Thomas Harriot sketched the Moon through a telescope on 26 July 1609, months before Galileo, but never published; Galileo's Sidereus Nuncius of 1610 took the credit.

Which astronomer proposed in 1873 that lunar craters were formed by impacts, not volcanoes?

Richard Proctor argued in his 1873 book The Moon that craters were impact scars; Grove Karl Gilbert's 1892 experiments backed him, but the volcanic view held on until the space age.