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97 free The Moon trivia questions with answers — science & nature quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
50 free the Moon trivia questions with answers. It controls our tides, lights our nights, and twelve humans have walked on it. From the first moonwalk to the mysteries still being uncovered, how much do you really know about the Moon?
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Q 01How long does it take the Moon to orbit the Earth once?
About 27.3 days
The Moon takes about 27.3 days to circle Earth relative to the fixed stars, the period known as the sidereal month.
Q 02What is the name of the first human to walk on the Moon?
Neil Armstrong
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.
Q 03What causes the phases of the Moon?
How much of the sunlit half faces Earth
How much of the sunlit half faces Earth is all that changes; Earth's shadow only reaches the Moon during a lunar eclipse.
Q 04What is the average distance from the Earth to the Moon, whose orbit is slightly elliptical?
238,900 miles
The average is about 238,900 miles (384,400 km), varying slightly because the Moon's orbit is elliptical.
Q 05Which lunar plain did Luna 9, Surveyor 1 and Apollo 12 all land on?
Oceanus Procellarum
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.
Q 06Which numbered NASA mission was the first to land humans on the Moon?
11
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.
Q 07What is the term for the Moon's near side always facing Earth?
Tidal locking
Tidal locking (or synchronous rotation) means the Moon's rotation period matches its orbital period, so the same hemisphere always faces Earth.
Q 08What name is given to the second full Moon in a single calendar month?
Blue
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.
Q 09Which theory is most widely accepted for how the Moon came to exist?
Giant impact hypothesis
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.
Q 10The Moon's gravity is approximately what fraction of Earth's gravity?
1/6
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.
Q 11Which spacecraft made the first soft landing on the far side of the Moon, in 2019?
Chang'e 4
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.
Q 12How many humans walked on the Moon during the Apollo program?
12
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.
Q 13What is a lunar eclipse?
The Moon passes through Earth's shadow
Q 21Which lunar plain did Apollo 11's lunar module set down on in July 1969?
Tranquillitatis
Mare Tranquillitatis, the Sea of Tranquility, received Eagle on 20 July 1969, and the spot is now known as Tranquility Base.
Q 22What is the largest crater on the Moon?
South Pole-Aitken Basin
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.
Q 23Which country was the first to land a spacecraft on the Moon?
Soviet Union
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 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.
Q 14Which NASA program, begun in 2017, was created to return humans to the Moon?
Artemis
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.
Q 15Stepping onto the Moon, Buzz Aldrin summed up the view in which two words?
Magnificent desolation
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.
Q 16How wide is the Moon's disc, edge to edge?
2,159 miles
At 2,159 miles (3,474 km), it spans about a quarter of Earth's width, roughly the size of mainland Australia.
Q 17Which Apollo astronaut stayed in lunar orbit while his crewmates walked on the Moon during Apollo 11?
Michael Collins
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.
Q 18What are the Moon's dark, flat plains, formed by lava flooding ancient impact basins, called?
Maria (seas)
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.
Q 19Which numbered mission was the last of NASA's Apollo lunar landings?
17
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.
Q 20What phenomenon occurs when the Moon is closest to Earth in its orbit?
Perigee
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.'
Q 24In Roman mythology, who was the goddess of the Moon?
Luna
Luna's name survives in 'lunar' and 'lunatic'; her temple stood on the Aventine Hill, just below one dedicated to Diana.
Q 25What is the Moon's surface temperature during the lunar day (in direct sunlight)?
About 250°F (120°C)
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.
Q 26Who was the last Apollo astronaut to climb off the lunar surface?
Eugene Cernan
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.
Q 27What causes tides on Earth?
Gravity of the Moon and Sun
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.
Q 28On the Moon, what is regolith?
Loose dust and rubble blanketing the surface
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.
Q 29What element is the Moon's crust primarily composed of?
Oxygen
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.
Q 30What callsign did the Apollo 11 Lunar Module carry?
Eagle
Each Apollo lander had its own callsign; Apollo 11's gave Armstrong his line on July 20, 1969: 'The Eagle has landed'.