Questions people actually ask

The Moon is an average of 384,400 km from Earth: room for 30 Earth-sized planets in between. NASA Science: Moon facts At its closest the Moon is 225,309 miles away, and at its farthest 251,903 miles. NASA Space Place: How far away is the Moon?

With a radius of about 1,740 km, the Moon is less than a third of the width of Earth. NASA Science: Moon facts Put a green pea next to a US nickel (a 5-cent coin) and you have a good idea of the size of the Moon compared to Earth. NASA Science: Moon facts

The Sun always lights up half of the Moon. Phases are how much of that lit half we can see from Earth. NASA Science: Moon phases Phases are not caused by Earth’s shadow. The only time Earth’s shadow affects how the Moon looks is during a lunar eclipse. NASA Science: Top Moon questions

From one new Moon to the next takes 29.53 days, a little longer, because Earth is moving around the Sun at the same time. NASA NSSDC: Moon fact sheet

There is no permanent dark side of the Moon. The far side gets as much sunlight as the near side. NASA Science: Top Moon questions

The Moon spins once on its axis in the same time it takes to go once around Earth, so the same side always faces us. NASA Science: Moon facts

Gravity on the Moon is one-sixth of Earth’s, which is why astronauts seem to bounce. NASA Science: Moon facts Surface gravity on the Moon is 1.62 m/s², compared with 9.80 m/s² on Earth: a ratio of 0.165. NASA NSSDC: Moon fact sheet

The Moon has only a very thin atmosphere called an exosphere. You couldn’t breathe it. NASA Science: Moon facts

In full Sun the Moon’s surface reaches about 127 °C, and in darkness it falls to about −173 °C. NASA Science: Moon facts

The first definitive discovery of water on the Moon was made in 2008 by India’s Chandrayaan-1 mission. NASA Science: Moon facts There is water ice in permanently shadowed craters at the Moon’s poles, where sunlight never reaches. NASA Science: Moon facts

The Moon probably formed after a Mars-sized body crashed into the young Earth. Debris from both came together to make the Moon. NASA Science: Moon facts That happened about 4.5 billion years ago, near the time the solar system formed. NASA Science: How the Moon formed

Twelve people have walked on the Moon, starting with Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin. NASA Science: Who has walked on the Moon?

Gene Cernan, Apollo 17’s commander, was the last person to leave footprints on the Moon. NASA: Apollo 17 Its crew, NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Victor Glover and Christina Koch and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen, travelled around the Moon. NASA Science: Who has walked on the Moon?

The Moon’s gravity is the main cause of Earth’s ocean tides. NASA Science: Tides Most coasts get two high tides and two low tides a day. High tide to high tide takes a little over 12 hours. NASA Science: Tides