What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky

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What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
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“ R E A C H   T H E       S K Y ”    E R A S M U S +   P A R T N E R S H I P                          F E B R U A R Y ,     2 0 1 7

                                        What is the Moon’s Real Name?
                                  As of 2015, there are 146 official moons in       1610, and realized that Jupiter had tiny spots
                               the Solar System, and then another 27 provi-         of light orbiting around it, astronomers had
                               sional moons, who are still waiting on the status    no idea other planets had moons. In Latin,
                               of their application. All official moons have        our satellite's name is "Luna." Because a signif-
                               names after gods or Shake-                           icant chunk of English comes from Latin,
                               speare characters, names                                              many terms associated with
                               like Callisto, Titan, or Pro-                                         the moon are related to this
                               metheus. But there’s one                                              Latin name — for example, the
                               moon in the Solar System                                              adjective "lunar," and the noun
                               with a super boring                                                   "lunatic," an old-fashioned
                               name… the one you’re                                                  word for a mentally ill person.
                               most familiar with: Moon.                                             (Madness was thought to be
                               So what’s the Moon’s real                                             correlated with the phases of
                               name? Its scientific name?                                            the moon.)
                               The answer is: The Moon.                                              In Greek, our moon is
                               Earth's moon does have a                                           named "Selene," as is the
                               name: In English, Interna-                                         moon goddess of ancient
                               tional Astronomical Union,                                         Greek mythology. The English
                               the body in charge of nam-                                         word "selenology," or the
                               ing celestial objects ap-                                          study of the moon's geology,
                               proved the name "The                                               derives from it. If we want to
                               Moon." The word moon is                                            be sure you're talking about
                               Proto-Germanic in origin,                                          "The Moon" and not about "a
                               deriving from a similar-                                           moon" just put a capital "M" in
                               sounding word that came into use a few thou-         front of "oon". Using the same rule, the
    INSIDE THIS
                               sand years ago in Northern Europe.                   name of our solar system is "Solar System",
       ISSUE:
                                  For most of human history, there didn't need      the name of our galaxy is "The Galaxy" , even
  Selenography        6                                                             the universe is "Universe", all with capital
                               to be a more specific term to differentiate our
                               moon from other moons that orbit other plan-         letter.
  The Man on the      11       ets in the solar system, and for good reason: we       Finally, If you want to be the godparent of
  Moon                         didn't know there were any other moons. Until        our natural satellite you could invent a fancy
  Apollo Missions     12       Galileo first turned his telescope to the skies in   name for "The Moon":). (Csabi Brezan)
What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
PAGE   2                                                                                          The Moon — Scientific facts

           Short description of The Moon                            made of minerals like olivine and pyroxene, which are made
                                                                    up of magnesium, iron, silicon and oxygen atoms. The crust
      The fifth largest moon in the solar system, Earth's moon
                                                                    has a thickness of about 43 miles (70 kilometers) on the
  is the only place beyond Earth where humans have set foot.
                                                                    Moon's near-side hemisphere and 93 miles (150 kilometers)
  The brightest and largest object in our night sky, The Moon
                                                                    on the far-side. It is made of oxygen, silicon, magnesium, iron,
  makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our home
                                                                    calcium and aluminum, with small amounts of titanium, urani-
  planet's wobble on its axis, leading to a relatively stable
                                                                    um, thorium, potassium and hydrogen.
  climate. It also causes tides, creating a rhythm that has guid-
  ed humans for thousands of years. The Moon was likely                Long ago the Moon had active volcanoes, but today they
  formed after a Mars-sized body collided with Earth.               are all dormant and have not erupted for millions of years.
                                                                    With too sparse an atmosphere to impede impacts, a steady
     With a radius of 1,079.6 miles (1,737.5 kilometers), the
                                                                    rain of asteroids, meteoroids and comets strikes the surface
  moon is less than a third the width of Earth. If Earth were
                                                                    of the Moon, leaving numerous craters behind. Tycho Crater
  the size of a nickel, the moon would be about as big as a
                                                                    is more than 52 miles (85 kilometers) wide.
  coffee bean.
                                                                       Over billions of years, these impacts have ground up the
      The Moon is farther away from Earth than most people
                                                                    surface of the Moon into fragments ranging from huge boul-
  realize. The Moon is an average of 238,855 miles (384,400
                                                                    ders to powder. Nearly the entire Moon is covered by a
  kilometers) away. That means 30 Earth-sized planets could
                                                                    rubble pile of charcoal-gray, powdery dust and rocky debris
  fit in between Earth and the Moon. The Moon is slowly
                                                                    called the lunar regolith. Beneath is a region of fractured
  moving away from Earth, getting about an inch farther away
                                                                    bedrock referred to as the megaregolith.
  each year.
                                                                       The light areas of the Moon are known as the highlands.
      The Moon is rotating at the same rate that it revolves
                                                                    The dark features, called maria (Latin for seas), are impact
  around Earth (called synchronous rotation), so the same
                                                                    basins that were filled with lava between 4.2 and 1.2 billion
  hemisphere faces Earth all the time. Some people call the
                                                                    years ago. These light and dark areas represent rocks of dif-
  far side — the hemisphere we never see from Earth — the
                                                                    ferent composition and ages, which provide evidence for
  "dark side," but that's misleading. As the Moon orbits Earth,
                                                                    how the early crust may have crystallized from a lunar mag-
  different parts are in sunlight or darkness at different times.
                                                                    ma ocean. The craters themselves, which have been pre-
  The changing illumination is why, from our perspective, the
                                                                    served for billions of years, provide an impact history for the
  Moon goes through phases. During a "full moon," the hemi-
                                                                    Moon and other bodies in the inner solar system.
  sphere of the Moon we can see from Earth is fully illuminat-
  ed by the sun. And a "new moon" occurs when the far side             If you looked in the right places on the Moon, you would
  of the Moon has full sunlight, and the side facing us is having   find pieces of equipment, American flags, and even a camera
  its night.                                                        left behind by astronauts. While you were there, you'd notice
                                                                    that the gravity on the surface of the Moon is one-sixth of
     The Moon makes a complete orbit around Earth in 27
                                                                    Earth's, which is why in footage of moonwalks, astronauts
  Earth days and rotates or spins at that same rate, or in that
                                                                    appear to almost bounce across the surface.
  same amount of time. Because Earth is moving as well —
  rotating on its axis as it orbits the sun — from our perspec-        The temperature reaches about 260 degrees Fahrenheit
  tive, the Moon appears to orbit us every 29 days.                 (127 degrees Celsius) when in full sun, but in darkness, the
                                                                    temperatures plummets to about -280 degrees Fahrenheit (-
     The leading theory of The Moon's origin is that a Mars-
                                                                    173 degrees Celsius). The Moon has a very thin and weak
  sized body collided with Earth about 4.5 billion years ago.
                                                                    atmosphere, called an exosphere. It does not provide any
  The resulting debris from both Earth and the impactor ac-
                                                                    protection from the sun's radiation or impacts from meteor-
  cumulated to form our natural satellite 239,000 miles
                                                                    oids. The many missions that have explored the Moon have
  (384,000 kilometers) away. The newly formed Moon was in
                                                                    found no evidence to suggest it has its own living things.
  a molten state, but within about 100 million years, most of
                                                                    However, the Moon could be the site of future colonization
  the global "magma ocean" had crystallized, with less-dense
                                                                    by humans, though there are no immediate plans to do so.
  rocks floating upward and eventually forming the lunar
  crust.                                                               Earth's Moon has no moons of its own. The Moon has no
                                                                    rings. The early Moon may have developed an internal dyna-
     Earth's Moon has a core, mantle and crust. The Moon's
                                                                    mo, the mechanism for generating global magnetic fields for
  core is proportionally smaller than other terrestrial bodies'
                                                                    terrestrial planets, but today, the Moon has a very weak mag-
  cores. The solid, iron-rich inner core is 149 miles (240 kilo-
                                                                    netic field. The magnetic field here on Earth is many thou-
  meters) in radius. It is surrounded by a liquid iron shell 56
                                                                    sands of times stronger than the Moon's magnetic field. Hu-
  miles (90 kilometers) thick. A partially molten layer with a
                                                                    man beings have studied the Moon for millennia, watching its
  thickness of 93 miles (150 kilometers) surrounds the iron
                                                                    phases change and observing eclipses — both solar and lunar.
  core.
                                                                    During a solar eclipse, our Moon moves between Earth and
     The mantle extends from the top of the partially molten        the sun and blocks the sunlight.               (Gal Andrea)
  layer to the bottom of the Moon's crust. It is most likely
What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
The Moon — Scientific facts                                                                                       PAGE      3

           Does Earth have a second moon?
   There are two kinds of planets in the solar system: the Terrestrial
planets (Mercury, Venus, Earth, Mars), and the Jovian planets
(Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune). While the Jovian planets have a
total observed number of moons of close to 90, the Terrestrial plan-
ets have only 3 (the Moon, and two small moons around Mars). This
huge difference is linked to the formation of the solar system.
   Quasi-satellites are not second moons for Earth. A quasi-satellite
is an object in a co-orbital configuration with Earth (or another
planet). Scientists would say there is a 1:1 orbital resonance be-
tween Earth and this object. In other words, a quasi-satellite is or-
biting the sun, just as Earth is. Its orbit around the sun takes exactly                  Earth Captures a Minimoon
the same time as Earth’s orbit, but the shape of the orbit is slightly
different.
   The most famous quasi-satellite in our time – and an object you might have heard called a second moon
for Earth – is 3753 Cruithne. This object is five kilometers – about three miles – wide. Notice it has an as- The first modern idea
teroid name. That’s because it is an asteroid orbiting our sun, one of several thousand asteroids whose about the formation of
orbits cross Earth’s orbit. Astronomers discovered Cruithne in 1986, but it wasn’t until 1997 that they fig- the Moon was called
ured out its complex orbit. It’s not a second moon for Earth; it doesn’t orbit Earth. But Cruithne is co- the fission theory, and
orbiting the sun with Earth. Like all quasi-satellites, Cruithne orbits the sun once for every orbit of Earth. it came from George
Orbits like that of Cruithne aren’t stable. Computer models indicate that Cruithne will spend only another Darwin, the son of
5,000 years or so in its current orbit. That’s a blink on the long timescale of our solar system. The asteroid Charles Darwin. He
might then move into true orbit around Earth for a time, at which time it would be a second moon – but reasoned the Moon
not for long. Astronomers estimate that, after 3,000 years orbiting Earth, Cruithne would escape back into must have broken
orbit around the sun.                                                                                          away from our planet,
   Earth does sometimes have temporary moons. In March of 2012, astronomers at Cornell University pub- when the Earth was
lished the result of a computer study, suggesting that asteroids orbiting the sun might temporarily become still a rapidly rotating
natural satellites of Earth. In fact, they said, Earth usually has more than one temporary moon, which they ball of molten rock.
called minimoons. These astronomers said the minimoons would follow complicated paths around Earth
                                                                                                              His theory lasted from
for a time, as depicted in the images above and below. Eventually, they would break free of Earth’s gravity
                                                                                                              the 1800s right up until
– only to be immediately recaptured into orbit around the sun, becoming an asteroid once more. The little
                                                                                                              the space age.
moons envisioned by these astronomers might typically be only a few feet across and might orbit our
planet for less than a year before going back to orbit the sun as asteroids.              (Gal Alexandra)

                                                                                                          Theia
                                                                                        Theia is a hypothesized ancient planetary-
                                                                                        mass object in the early Solar System that,
                                                                                        according to the giant impact hypothesis,
                                                                                        collided with the early Earth around 4.31
                                                                                        billion years ago. In mithology, Theia was
                                                                                        named for the titaness Theia, who in Greek
                                                                                        mythology was the mother of Selene, the
                                                                                        goddess of the moonAccording to the hy-
                                                                                        pothesis, Theia was an Earth trojan about
                                                                                        the size of Mars, with diameter of about
                                                                                        6,000 km (3,700 miles). Geologist Edward
                                                                                        Young of the University of California, Los
 Angeles, drawing on an analysis of rocks collected by Apollo missions 12, 15, and 17, suggests that Theia collided head-on with
 Earth, in contrast to the previous theory that suggested a glancing impact. Models of the impact propose that Theia's debris gath-
 ered around Earth to form the early Moon. Some scientists think that the material thrown into orbit originally formed two moons
 that later merged to form the single moon we know today. The Theia hypothesis also explains why Earth's core is larger than
 would be expected for a body its size: according to the hypothesis, Theia's core and mantle mixed with Earth's. (Brezan Csaba)
What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
PAGE     4                                                                                            The Moon— Moon phases

 Several people have no-
                                                                          Moon Phases
ticed that February 1999
has no Full Moon, and              The truth is that we only see one side of the moon at all times; the near side. The far side
have asked me how often         of the moon is the part facing away from the Earth. Why do we only see one side of the
that happens. In 1999,          moon? Well, since the moon completes one axial rotation at the same time is completes 1
January and March both          orbit around the Earth, we only get to see one side. This is what makes the moon appear it
have two Full Moons. The        is changing shape in the sky. Every 29.5 days the moon will show its 4 different faces it has
second Full Moon in Janu-
                                to offer and repeat itself in this cycle continuously. I also hope we know that the Earth does
ary occurs late on the
                                not emit light off on its own and that it is a reflection of the sun.
31st, whilst the first Full
                                   When the Moon appears smaller than a quarter, we call it a crescent. When the Moon
Moon of March falls close
                                appears larger than a quarter, we call it gibbous. When the moon is getting bigger (phases
to the beginning of the
                                New to Full) it is waxing. When it is getting smaller (phases Full to New) it is waning. For
month, on the 2nd. You
might guess, then, that
                                example, if today the Moon were a waxing crescent, then tomorrow the crescent shape
February has no Full            would continue to grow larger, approaching first quarter. After first quarter, the Moon
Moon in years when Jan-         would be a waxing gibbous, and continue growing until it reached full. The Moon would
uary and March have two         then begin to shrink, becoming first a waning gibbous and eventually reaching third quarter.
Full Moons each. This           Following third quarter it becomes a waning crescent, and continues to shrink until it be-
happens, on average,            comes invisible at new Moon.
about three times each             Just in case you can't remember all of this, there are a few handy ways to recognize
century.                        whether the Moon is growing or shrinking. A crescent moon which looks like a "C" is shrink-
                                ing (C for collapsing!). If it looks like a "D", then it is growing. This is true for a gibbous Moon
The    31-days   months
(especially October, Au-        as well, but it's a bit trickier to picture. If the edge of the Moon (the real edge of the Moon,
gust and July) have the         not the edge of night on the moon) is curved like a "C", the gibbous Moon is shrinking. An-
most Blue Moons.                other way to think of it is that the Moon always grows or shrinks from the right to the left.

 1.) New Moon - This time you can't see the moon at all!

 2.) Waxing Crescent - The term waxing in this case
 means to get larger. The part we are talking about
 getting larger is the lit up part of the moon. During this
 time just a small part which is less than one half of the
 moon is lit up.

 3.) First Quarter - One full half of the moon is lit up.

 4.) Waxing Gibbous - Again waxing is referred to as
 slowly getting bigger. Each day the lit part gets bigger
 and bigger.

 5.) Full Moon - This is the day you are grumpy. Just kid-
 ding! When the moon is on the opposite side of the
 Earth than the sun, this is when the full moon comes out
 to play. This is the only phase that a lunar eclipse is pos-
 sible.

 6.) Waning Gibbous - Waning means that the moons is                  first quarter moon phase.
 slowly getting smaller. You can see that the lit part is             8.) Waning Crescent - Once again, waning means the lit
 shrinking in size.                                                   part of the moon is shrinking in size. Each day a little
 7.) Last Quarter - This is no different view than the first          more is less seen until the new moon phase hits again.
 quarter moon phase. Instead the light is slowly getting              After completing the 8 moon phases, it goes through the
 smaller as compared to slowly getting bigger after the               cycle continuously until the end of the world!

                                                                                                                        (Oana Jurj)
What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
The Moon Calendar                                                                                              PAGE      5

                                 Moon Phases Calendar 2017

                                                                                                              There were no Blue
                                                                                                              Moons during this
                                                                                                                 year (2017).

                                                                                                               The next super-
                                                                                                               moon will be on
                                                                                                               May 25, 2017.

                                                                                                                  What is a
                                                                                                                Black Moon?

                                                                                                                  We had never
                                                                                                                  heard the term
                                                                                                                Black Moon until
                                                                                                                   early 2014. It
                                          Once in a Blue Moon                                                 doesn’t come from
"Once in a Blue Moon ..." is a com-                                                                               astronomy, or
                                                                            Blood Moon is sometimes
mon way of saying not very often,                                                                              skylore, either. In-
                                                                            used to describe 4 total lunar
but what exactly is a Blue Moon?                                                                              stead, according to
                                                                            eclipses that occur in a row.
In recent years, people have been                                           The term may have also             David Harper, the
using the name Blue Moon for the second of two          come from the reddish glow a full Moon can              term comes from
full moons in a single calendar month. An older         take on when the Earth casts its shadow on it         Wiccan culture. It’s
definition says a Blue Moon is the third of four full   and eclipses it. Total lunar eclipses do not occur      the name for the
moons in a single season. Someday, you might see        often – only about 1 in 3 lunar eclipses are total,   second of two new
an actual blue-colored moon. The term once in a         and about 4 to 5 total eclipses can be seen from      moons in one calen-
blue moon used to mean something rare. Now              any single location on Earth in a decade. Every       dar month. January
that the rules for naming Blue Moons include sev-       once in a while, however, 4 total lunar eclipses      2014, for example,
eral different possibilities, Blue Moons are pretty     happen in a row. This rare occurrence is called a     had two new moon
                                                        lunar tetrad. The eclipses in a tetrad occur 6          supermoons, the
common! The next Blue Moon (second full moon
                                                        months apart with at least 6 full Moons be-              second of which
in one calendar month) will be on January 31,
                                                        tween them.                           (Oana Jurj)         was not only a
2018.
                                                                                                               supermoon, but a
                                               A supermoon is a new or full moon closely coinciding
               The Supermoon                   with perigee – the moon’s closest point to Earth in its
                                                                                                                   Black Moon.
monthly orbit. An astrologer, Richard Nolle, coined the term supermoon over 30 years ago, but now             Another definition
many in astronomy use it as well. What did astronomers call these moons before we called them super-           for Black Moon is:
moons? We called them a perigee full moon, or a perigee new moon. Perigee just means “near Earth.”               the third of four
According to the definition of supermoon coined by Nolle, the year 2017 has a total of four super-             new moons in one
moons. The first supermoon, for 2017, comes with the April 26 new moon. The new moons on May 25                      season.
and June 24 are also considered supermoons, according to Nolle’s definition, and that same definition
dictates that the full moon of December 2017 – plus the full moons on January 2 and 31, 2018 – will be
supermoons, too.                                                                           (Oana Jurj)
What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
PAGE   6                                                                                                        The Moon’s Map

                                                        Selenography
     Selenography is considered to be a subdiscipline of sele-    moon maps were
 nology, which itself is most often referred to as simply         probably more ac-
 "lunar science." Selenography is the study of the surface and    curate than earth
 physical features of the Moon. Historically, the principal       maps at this point.
 concern of selenographists was the mapping and naming of         Intrigued by an odd-
 the lunar maria, craters, mountain ranges, and other various     ly shaped crater
 features. But, how do you map something 238,856 miles            rim, in 1679 Cassini
 away? You can’t just send out a team of surveyors. At least,     included a small
 you couldn’t until relatively recently. Before then, lunar       drawing of a wom-
 cartographers (technically, selenographers) could only rely      an’s face in profile.           Hevelius’s Moon atlas
 on telescopes and their own artistic ability to draw a de-
                                                                     Tobias     Mayer
 tailed portrait of the lunar face. They managed some pretty
                                                                  was the first to give the moon proper latitude and longitude
 dazzling results.
                                                                  and take libration into account. Mayer used his libration cal-
    The oldest known illustration of the Moon was found in        culations in order to produce a series of incredibly accurate
 a passage tomb in Knowth, County Meath, Ireland. The             maps of the surface of the moon during a lunar eclipse on
 tomb was carbon dated to 3330–2790 B.C. The idea that            August 8, 1748. The first published large map of the Moon,
 the Moon was not perfectly smooth can be traced as far           four sheets in size, was published in 1834 by Johann Heinrich
 back as approximately 450 BC, when Democritus believed           von Mädler, who followed this up by publishing a book enti-
 that there were "lofty mountains and hollow valleys" on the      tled, "The Universal Selenography".
 Moon.
                                                                     The next major advancements in lunar cartography came
    Around 1603, William Gilbert compiled the first lunar         during the mid-20th-century space race between the USSR
 drawing based on naked-eye observations. One of the first        and USA. The Soviets were up there first, in 1959, sending up
 widely seen images of the moon (aside from the IRL ver-          Luna 1, the first man-made object to leave the Earth’s atmos-
 sion), the drawing at left was included by Galileo in a book     phere and never return. Unfortunately, it missed its target,
 published in 1610. While he didn’t technically map the           and accidentally became the first man-made object to orbit
 moon, these observations were among the first to take            the Sun.Luna-2 succeeded in hitting the moon, and Luna-3
 note that the moon was not a perfect smooth magic sky-           sent back the first images of the far side of the moon, some-
 ball but a rough, irregularly surfaced rock with valleys and     thing previously only wondered about.
 mountains and other chartable features.
                                                                     Between 1966 and ’68, the Americans, feeling as though
     The first formal attempt at mapping the moon — that is,      merely looking at the moon wasn’t enough (well, they felt a
 one that didn’t just take note of curious craters and riveting   lot of things, but you know, Cold War), launched seven indi-
                          ridges, but attempted to define all     vidual spacecraft— the Jet Propulsion Laboratory’s Surveyor
                          features on a grid — happened only a    program — to the surface of the moon to transmit photo-
                          few decades later, in 1645. Dutch       graphs and soil data, with the goal of testing the feasibility of a
                          astronomer Michael van Langren          manned landing.
                          attempted a detailed study of the
                                                                     Surveyor 3, which scouted the Mare Cogitum, was close
                          moon’s visible surface during differ-
                                                                  enough to the Apollo 12 landing site that astronauts were
                          ent phases. Two years later, Van
                                                                  able to amble over to it and remove parts; the camera, which
                          Langren’s Polish rival, Johannes He-
                                                                  sent back over 6,000 images of the surrounding area, is now
                          velius, published a more complete
                                                                  on display at the Smithsonian Air & Space museum.
                          description of the moon in the form
 Galileo’s drawing        of a lunar atlas. The two years of         NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter science team re-
                          extra effort was worth it: Hevelius     leased the highest resolution near-global topographic map of
 is remembered as the father of lunar topography.                 the moon ever created. This new topographic map shows the
                                                                  surface shape and features over nearly the entire moon with
    The modern scheme of lunar nomenclature was devised
                                                                  a pixel scale close to 328 feet.
 by Giambattista Riccioli. In particular he argued against the
 views espoused by Galileo and Copernicus that favored a             Although the moon is Earth's closest neighbor, knowledge
 heliocentric model with perfectly circular orbits. However       of its morphology is still limited. Due to the limitations of
 the only significant aspect of the work to survive to the        previous missions, a global map of the moon's topography at
 present period is Riccioli's system of lunar nomenclature,       high resolution has not existed until now. With LRO's Wide
 published in 1651.                                               Angle Camera and the Lunar Orbiter Laser Altimeter instru-
                                                                  ment, scientists can now accurately portray the shape of the
   The 17th century was a great time to be alive if you
                                                                  entire moon at high resolution.
 were interested in staring at the moon - truth be told,
What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
The Moon’s Map                                                                                                   PAGE       7

                                                  The Dark Side of the Moon
   You probably know we only see one side of the Moon from          sounds around Saturn as well, in 2002. Two months after
 the Earth. But for the majority of human history, we had no        Apollo 10 heard the sounds, Michael Collins, the Apollo 11
 idea what the far side looked like. The far side of the Moon is    astronaut who stayed in the moon’s orbit while Neil Arm-
 the hemisphere of the Moon that always faces away from             strong and Buzz Aldrin touched down on its surface, heard
 Earth. The far side's terrain is rugged, with a multitude of im-   them too.
 pact craters and relatively few flat lunar maria. It has one of
                                                                     You would think that the far side of the Moon would look
 the largest craters in the Solar System, the South Pole–Aitken
                                                                  like the near side, but check out the two hemispheres…
 basin. Although both sides of the moon experience two weeks
                                                                  They’re totally different. The near side of the has huge re-
 of sunlight followed by two weeks of night, the far side is also
                                                                  gions of ancient lava flows, called maria. While the far side is
 referred to as the dark side of the Moon,originally in the sense
                                                                  almost entirely covered in crater impacts. Planetary geolo-
 of "unknown" rather than lack of light.
                                                                  gists aren’t sure, but it’s possible that the Earth used to have
    The first spacecraft to image the far side of the Moon was two Moons.
 the Soviet Luna 3 probe in 1959, which returned 18 usable
                                                                     Just like half of the Earth is always in darkness, and half of
 images to scientists. And then in 1965, the Soviet Zond 3 trans-
                                                                  every other large object in the Solar System. There’s no per-
 mitted another 25 pictures of higher quality that gave much
                                                                  manent “dark side” of the Moon. The side facing towards the
 more detail of the surface. The first humans to actually see the
                                                                  Sun is lit up, and the side facing away is in shadows. There
 far side with their own eyes, were the crew of Apollo 8, who
                                                                  are, however, some spots on the Moon which are in eternal
 did a flyover in 1968.
                                                                  darkness. There are craters at the north and south poles deep
 “Boy, that sure is weird music.”                                 enough that the light from the Sun never illuminates their
                                                                  floors. In these places, It’s possible that there are reserves of
 “We’re going to have to find out about that. Nobody will be-
                                                                  ice that future space colonies could use for their supplies of
 lieve us.”
                                                                  water, air, and even rocket fuel.
 “Yes. It’s a whistling, you know, like an outer-space-type
                                                                     The far side of the Moon is naturally shielded from the
 thing.”
                                                                  Earth’s radio transmissions, so it makes an ideal spot to lo-
    In 1969, the Apollo 10 astronauts orbited the moon as a test cate a sensitive radio observatory.
 -run for the Apollo 11 moon landing two months later. While
                                                                     China’s space agency has announced plans to become the
 they flew around the far side of the moon—which put them
                                                                  first to land on the far side of the moon, which is always hid-
 out of radio contact with Earth for roughly an hour—they
                                                                  den from us – a tricky task given that it is not possible to com-
 heard some strange sounds that they could not immediately
                                                                  municate directly with Earth from there. But if successful, the
 identify. Space makes “sounds” all the time—usually due to
                                                                  mission could shed light on many things we don’t know about
 charged particles interacting with a planet’s magnetic field. In
                                                                  the moon, such as what is going on deep beneath its thick
 1979, NASA’s Voyager spacecraft picked up a noise near Jupi-
                                                                  crust. Chang’e 4, scheduled for launch in late 2018, is the next
 ter (video) that sounds a lot like what the Apollo 10 astronauts
                                                                  phase of China’s exploration of the moon. It builds on the
 heard orbiting the moon. The Cassini spacecraft recorded
                                                                  success of its Chang’e 3 lander, which touched down on the
                                                                  moon in December 2013 and successfully deployed a robotic
                                                                  rover named Yutu. Although Yutu found itself unable to move
                                                                  after its second night, it continued to provide data, leading to
                                                                  the discovery of a new type of moon rock. Other proposed
                                                                  missions to the far side of the moon – such as the crowd-
                                                                  funded Lunar Mission One, the Russian and European Space
                                                                  Agency jointly-planned Luna 27, and maybe an independent
                                                                  ESA lander, too – are aiming at the fringes of SPA basin at the
                                                                  moon’s south pole, from where the Earth stays in view as it
                                                                  tracks around the horizon. If the Chinese make a success of
                                                                  this and Chang’e 5, their next logical step will be to send as-
                                                                  tronauts to the moon. And it seems that in this they will be in
                                                                  a race with the European Space Agency rather than with
                                                                  NASA, which currently has its sights set on sending humans to
                                                                  Mars instead.
What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
PAGE    8                                                                                              The Moon and Human Life

                                                    What if the Earth had no Moon?
     Our nearest neighboring body in the cos-         Moon, the same way the Moon is locked        preventing catastrophic shifts in our
 mos has a profound effect on us. It’s helped         to us and always shows us the same face.     rotational axis. It’s probable that
 not only shape our evolution, biologically, but      Instead of 24 hours, a day would last for    sometimes, we’d be like the planet
 has shaped the entire evolution of our planet.       some 47 current Earth days. (In reality,     Mercury, orbiting in the same plane as
 It’s totally reasonable and conceivable that         the Sun will end its life long before that   our rotation, and having practically no
 life would have sprouted and thrived on              happens, so no worries there.)               seasons due to our axial tilt. At other
 Earth even without the Moon, but things                                                           times, we’d possibly be as extreme as
                                                         But in the meanwhile, we can use what
 would be significantly different in detail. Some                                                  Uranus, rotating on our side like a
                                                      we know to extrapolate backwards in
 of them would be obvious, some would be a                                                         barrel, having the most extreme sea-
                                                      time, and we find that in order to get a
 little more subtle, but there would be a great                                                    sons imaginable!
                                                      24 hour day today, the Earth had to have
 many impacts that we’d notice if we knew to
                                                      been spinning much faster in the past:          Earth is special, though, because
 look for them.
                                                      about three-to-four times as fast more       we have an external force to stabilize
    Without the Sun, Moon and Earth, there            than four billion years ago! If we didn’t    us against that sort of behavior. Know
 would be no eclipses. The Sun is constantly          have a Moon — if we never had our            what’s responsible?
 shining on Earth, casting a shadow for over a        Moon — the day would be much, much
                                                                                                       Most people know that the moon's
 million miles (and over a million kilometers)        shorter than it is today, and our planet
                                                                                                   gravitational influence has an effect on
 in its wake. Yet without our Moon — just a           would have a larger equatorial bulge,
                                                                                                   the tides on Earth, but some scien-
 few hundred thousand miles (or kilometers)           much more flattened poles, and over
                                                                                                   tists also believe that the presence of
 away — there’d be no object that would pass          1,000 days in a year!
                                                                                                   the moon played an important role in
 through the Earth’s shadow; there’d be no
                                                                                                        making Earth habitable to begin
 lunar eclipses.
                                                                                                        with. The interplay between the
    As it stands, tides from the Sun are only                                                           Earth and the moon mirrors
 about 40% as strong as tides from the Moon.                                                            events that occurred throughout
 When the Sun and Moon line up in either the                                                            the early solar system, as a Mars-
 “new” or “full” Moon phases, we get spring                                                             sized object may have hit the
 tides, 140% as large as a typical tide, and                                                            Earth, sending some of the mantle
 when they’re at right angles, we get neap                                                              into orbit that soon cooled into
 tides, only 60% as strong as a standard tide.                                                          the moon. Over time, the rela-
 But without any Moon at all, our tide pat-                                                             tionship between the Earth and
 terns would be much simpler, and only the                                                              the moon may well have assisted
 Sun would contribute anything substantial. So                                                          the advent of life.
 our tides would only be about 40% as large
                                                                                                           The flow of the oceanic tides
 as a typical tide is today. Not the biggest of          If the Earth had no Moon then our
                                                                                                   facilitates the movement of heat from
 deals, but definitely something we’d notice.         axial tilt would vary tremendously over      the equator north and south to the
    If the Earth had no Moon then night would         time! You probably learned that the          poles. Without those tides, it is possi-
 have been much darker than we're used to,            Earth rotates on its axis, tilted at about
                                                                                                   ble that climate changes ranging from
 and a day on Earth would be much, much               23.5 degrees relative to its orbital plane
                                                                                                   ice ages to glacial periods would not
 shorter; only about 6-to-8 hours, meaning            around the Sun. This is true! But did you
                                                                                                   be as extreme. As they happened, the
 there’d be between about 1,100-1,400 days            ever stop to think what keeps the Earth
                                                                                                   glacial phases may have helped speed
 in a year!                                           from changing the tilt of its axis-of-       up migrations of plant and animal
                                                      rotation? The same way a spinning top        species that caused life to spread.
    Our 24-hour-days may seem like they
                                                      not only precesses but also exhibits more
 don’t change from one year to the next. In                                                            Tidal heat transfer may also have
                                                      complicated motion over time (some of
 reality, the change is so tiny that it took cen-                                                  made climatic fluctuations less ex-
                                                      which you may know as nutation), an
 turies to perceive, but the Earth’s rotation                                                      treme, so research is still underway
                                                      entire planet can do this, too. Mars is a
 slows down ever so slightly over time, thanks                                                     to determine what actually took place
                                                      perfect example: currently tilted at about
 to the tidal friction provided by the Moon.                                                       over lengthy periods of time. If life
                                                      24 degrees relative to the Sun, we know
 The slow-down is very, very slow (on the                                                          came into being around hydrothermal
                                                      that its axial tilt varies from about 15
 order of microseconds-per-year), but over                                                         vents deep in the oceans, then the
                                                      degrees to about 35 degrees over time!
 millions and even billions of years, it adds up!                                                  role of the tides was likely minor, but
                                                        That’s right, the Moon! Thanks to our      if life began in the tidal waters, then
    In about 4 million years, we’ll no longer
                                                      Moon, our axis stays tilted between 23
 need leap years to keep our calendars on                                                          the moon's role would have been
                                                      and 26 degrees over time, even over
 track. If the Sun would live an infinite amount                                                   much more significant..
                                                      hundreds of millions of years! But with-
 of time, the Earth would eventually slow                                                                                 (Karina Bleicziffer)
                                                      out our Moon, there would be nothing
 down and become tidally locked to the
What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
The Moon and Human Life                                                                                           PAGE      9

                                       What Happen if Earth Had More than One Moon?
   We Never Imagined Earth having More than one Moon. But             regular as it is now.
 What will it be, if Earth had many moons? This picture may be
                                                                       Human life would
 easy for our imagination, but the effects of adding moons will
                                                                    undoubtedly take a
 drastically affect the climatic condition, biosphere and life sup-
                                                                    nasty hit, but once the
 porting system of our earth in unimaginable ways.
                                                                    newer moons settle
    The Moon exerts a gravitational pull on Earth that causes into their respective
 the creation of tides in huge bodies of water; in fact, the gravi- places around Earth,
 tational pull of the Moon causes oceans to bulge outwards in things would begin to
 the direction of the pull (did you know that?). Although the settle          down.     We
 gravitational attraction between the Sun and Earth is 177 would certainly have
 times stronger than the Moon and Earth, when it comes to more solar and lunar
 creating tides in our oceans, the Moon dominates the Sun. eclipses than we expe-
 Therefore, all the big tides that you see roaring in the distance rience now. Nights
 from the beach are primarily caused by our single Moon. Can would also be much more illuminated than what we experi-
 you imagine what would happen to the scale of tides if there ence today, since presently, there’s only one moon to reflect
 were more than one moon?                                           the Sun’s light to Earth. We would also have fewer hours of
                                                                    darkness.
    Neil Comins, an astronomer and a Physics professor at the
 University of Maine, has written an entire book on the topic          However, this is not necessarily a good thing, at least not
 ‘What if Earth Had Two Moons?’ In his book, he claims that a for star-gazers and astronomers, because having so much
 second Moon (he calls it ‘Lluna’) would settle in an orbit half- illumination at night would make the observation of stars
 way between the Moon and Earth. Its gravitational pull on much more difficult.
 Earth would be high enough to create tides almost eight times
                                                                       Since the difference between high tides and low tides
 higher than those we see today. Tidal waves of such magni-
                                                                    would be thousands of feet, living along shorelines would
 tude would cause natural disasters like tsunamis, earthquakes
                                                                    also be almost impossible. This would significantly shrink the
 and extremely strong volcanic activity. Needless to say, all of
                                                                    habitable area on Earth, resulting in a tremendous rise in the
 this would cause destruction of epic proportions, resulting in
                                                                    population of inland urban areas. With such unpredictable
 mass extinctions for a large number of living things.
                                                                    waters, using waterways as a means of transport would be
    The Presence of More than one moon will affect the Tidal nothing short of throwing yourself into an impromptu duel
 Waves on Massive Water Bodies on the Earth Surface. The with a Gladiator! There would be many other indirect and far
 tidal effect of the moon only significantly affects the largest -reaching effects on Earth due to the presence of multiple
 bodies of water, such as the major oceans. The gravity of the moons. So as it turns out, it’s good that we have only one
 moon pulls the water in the oceans toward it. As the Earth moon, and it’s even better that it’s going to stay that way in
 rotates, the bulge shifts through the different regions of the the near future.
 globe. Tides appear on both sides of the Earth because of the
                                                                       Time on the Earth will be affected by the presence or ab-
 pull of the sun. The Presence of More than one moon may
                                                                    sence of Moon(s). Moon Affects the Time on Earth and the
 create waves who may rise to several meters and may cause
                                                                    Moon is Constantly Shifting Away From The Earth Surface.
 Massive Tsunami. The difference between high and low tides
                                                                    The Total Duration of Earth Day was not 24 hours from the
 would be measured in thousands of feet. Proximity to the wa-
                                                                    beginning of Earth. At the Very Early Centuries, the Earth Day
 ter is a necessity for sewage draining and transport of goods,
                                                                    was incredibly Short – just five hours long. By the time of the
 but with higher tides and stronger erosion, humans would
                                                                    Jurassic period, when dinosaurs roamed the Earth, a day had
 have to develop different ways of using the oceans for transfer
                                                                    lengthened to about 22.5 hours. This is increased to 24 hours
 and travel. The habitable area of Earth, then, would be much
                                                                    at present and it may reach a higher value after few more
 smaller.
                                                                    million centuries, as moon continue to drift away from us.
    However, it also depends on the moons’ respective positions The Presence of Moon’s Gravity Strongly Affects the duration
 relative to Earth. The amplitude of waves would either be larg- of The Earth Day. The Presence of More than One Moon will
 er or smaller, since having so many moons would either add to increase the gravity, thus it will heavily Reduce the Earth’s
 or compensate for each other’s effects on Earth’s tides. Also, Day Duration, as a Result Earth might become a difficult place
 the cycle of tides (e.g., we have two high tides and two low for Survival.                                        (Ivan Nikolett)
 tides in the span of 24 hours on our planet) would not be as
What is the Moon's Real Name? - Reach The Sky
PAGE     10                                                                                                Moon in Romanian culture

                                                  The Moon in Romanian folklore
   The Moon has always been associated with magic, folklore, superstitious beliefs and ancient
rituals. In Romanian folklore, the Moon, the largest star on the bright sky has always been
wrapped in mystery. Always appearing at night when all the rest are sleeping and dreaming, is
seen as the protector of births, the harvest patron, but it is also held responsible for the sickest
crimes, accidents, paranoia and depression. More than 40 years since man first walked on the
moon, in Romanian culture and not only, there are people who believe that in reality, the man
never set foot on the moon. Along with the Sun, it fascinated all civilizations from the oldest of
times to this day. The Moon, the Sun, but also the stars are perceived as essential elements of
our cosmic space and that is why we find them in many Romanian ballads, poetry, legends and
tales.
   A well-known and very respected Romanian ethnologist believes that. In Romanian folklore,
the Sun and the Moon are characters present in all species, from songs and games for children,
chants, carols, ballads, songs of harvest, stories and fairy tales. "An interesting fact is that the
presence of the Sun. is, with, extremely rare exceptions, a beneficial one to the people: "the
sun is treated with the greatest respect, is considered the face of God." (John Moanta). The
cases where the Sun is seen as Evil are rare ("black sun"). In all cases the Sun is a male, the
"brother", a man's best friend, who helps him in all the crucial moments of life. “The Moon on the other hand is always a woman, young
and beautiful. In many ballads the Moon is a synonymous character with Ileana Sânziana and Ileana Cosânzeana. Numerous references to
the Sun and Moon are found in the ballad. In Romanian folklore, ballad, present in many volumes of Romanian authors, is very often
framed in incest theme.
   Legend tells us that the Sun was in love with his sister Ileana Cosânzeana who refused to marry with her brother. Sent to God, the Sun
must pass the test of Heaven and Hell. Firm in his incestuous desire the Sun is determined to go all the way and refuse to accept an alter-
native. The wedding takes place, but Ileana Cosânzeana is raised by a divine hand and cast into the sea in the form of a golden fish. How-
ever, the Sun refuses to give up and calls the local fishermen for help.. To prevent the marriage with a person of the same blood and all
the misfortunes that might result from this, saints throw the golden fish in the sky, receiving the name Moon. The ballad ends with a
moral and final sentence of divinity on the two brothers: Forever you will be apart!                                        (Pentek Iulia)

                                                           Romanian Werewolves
      Werewolves stories have been around in Eastern Europe cul-            from the middle of November to Christmas Day is a period of
    ture and not only much longer than those with vampires and              fasting and abstinence. Failing to do so will bring animal
    zombies. Its Romanian brother called “vârcolac” more recently           characteristics to the new born child. The baby will be a curs-
    replaced by the term “pricolici” was in the past a vampire or an        ed child with a wolf head or wolf ears and will be unlucky for
    unbaptized child. Their appearance is universally accepted: a           the rest of his life. There are hundreds of versions of these
    part-man, part-wolf creature that preys on humans on the nights         songs collected from all over the country: Oltenia, Moldavia,
    with full moon. In this situation the moon plays a double role. On      Basarabia and Transylvania, the home of Count Dracula. Deep
    one hand it is always the triggering factor, on the other hand it       in the Carpathian Mountains, the idea of a forest full of were-
    can be seen as a victim, because werewolves, in many tales,             wolves flourished. Many of the local villagers are convinced of
    want to devour the moon, because they love the darkness.                their existence and even perform rituals the help them kill the
                                                                            werewolves. The most efficient ways to kill such an evil
       In Romania, during winter holidays, from Christmas to New
                                                                            spirited animal are crucifixes and silver bullets.
    Year`s Eve, groups of young unmarried men parade through
    villages, wearing traditional costumes and masks representing              Romanian werewolf legends present, according to Harry
    different animals, people and devils, from sunset to dawn singing       Senn “stories of wives attacked by husbands, of villagers
    what ethnologist call ritual hymns (colinde). They are often ac-        forced to defend themselves against menacing were-pigs, but
    companied by musicians playing “capra”(the goat), “ursu” (the           also villagers who continue to reside in the village even after
    bear), “căluțu” (the little horse) and “barza” (the stork).             their periodic wolf metamorphosis. Solitary wolves, further-
                                                                            more, fed by travelers camping in the forest, subsequently
                                                   These young unmar-
                                                                            richly reward their benefactors for leaders, likewise patron
                                                ried men who joined
                                                                            saints of wolves, Peter and Andrew, direct and nurture their
                                                together at Christmas
                                                                            animal charges. Romanian villages offer us, in conclusion, a
                                                gathered     first  on
                                                                            larger mythological cosmology and context of folk traditions
                                                St.Nicholas` Day, on
                                                                            in which werewolves and vampires find a more natural
                                                December 6 to select
                                                                            place” (Senn Harry, Romanian Werewolves, Seasons, Rituals,
                                                their leaders and plan
                                                                            Cylces,Folklore vol.93:2, 1982).
                                                their activities. To
                                                Christians, the period                                                    (Corlan Alex)
Moon in other cultures                                                                                                   PAGE        11

                                                            The Man in the Moon
   The "Man in the Moon" illusion, familiar to      massive asteroid crash. The latest re-        see today as dark spots on the near side
various cultures around the world, was created      search, published in the journal Nature,      of the moon. These are the features that
by powerful asteroid impacts that rocked the        now suggests it may have been caused by       have inspired the idea of a man in the
satellite billions of years ago, a new study sug-   a large plume of magma. Using data ob-        moon. Ms Zuber, who is also Grail's prin-
gests. The study, performed by Laramie Potts        tained from Nasa's Grail (Gravity Recovery    cipal investigator, said: "A lot of things in
and Ralph von Frese of Ohio State University,       and Interior Laboratory) mission, the re-     science are really complicated, but I've
reveals that ancient lunar impacts played a         search team from MIT, the Colorado            always loved to answer simple ques-
much larger role in shaping the Moon's surface      School of Mines and other institutions        tions. "How many people have looked up
than scientists had previously thought. It may      have created a high-resolution map of the     at the moon and wondered what pro-
also help explain the origins of two mysterious     Procellarum. They found that its border is    duced the pattern we see - let me tell
bulges on the Moon's surface.                       not circular, but polygonal and made up of    you, I've wanted to solve that one!"
                                                    sharp angles that could not have been
   For millennia, people have looked up at the                                                     The map was created using twin probes
                                                    created by a massive asteroid. They be-
full Moon and sworn that they could see some-                                                     that orbited the moon from January to
                                                    lieve the angular outline was produced by
thing up there. Depending on the culture, it's                                                    December 2012 and was used to deter-
anything from a face to a dragon. But why is                                                      mine where the lunar crust thickens and
anything there in the first place? The Man in                                                     thins. They found that the rim of the
the Moon - which we'll use as the collective                                                      Procellarum region is composed of edges
name for everything cultures have seen on the                                                     made up of 120-degree angles.
face of the Moon, which also includes a hu-
                                                                                                     An asteroid strike would create circu-
man figure, a rabbit, and a buffalo, among
                                                                                                  lar or elliptical craters and not these
others - is pretty weak, as optical illusions go.
                                                                                                  angular shapes, the team suggests.
The mystery behind the 1,800-mile-wide sec-
tion of the moon has been a long-running                                                             They then went on to explore a theory
puzzle among scientists - who previously                                                          that some time after the moon formed
blamed it on an asteroid crash. The famous                                                        and cooled, a large plume of molten
                                                    giant tension cracks in the moon's crust as   material rose from the lunar interior,
flattened image across the moon's surface -
                                                    it cooled around an upwelling plume of        around where the Procellarum region is
dubbed the Man in the Moon - may have been
                                                    hot material from the deep interior. Maria    today. The steep difference in tempera-
created by a large plume of magma deep inside
                                                    Zuber, MIT's vice president for research,     ture between the magma plume and the
the moon coming up towards the surface. The
                                                    says that as cracks occurred, they formed     surrounding crust caused the surface to
mystery behind the 1,800-mile-wide section of
                                                    a "plumbing system" in the moon's crust       contract over time, creating a pattern of
the moon's Procellarum basin has been a long-
                                                    through which magma could meander to          fractures that provided a chance for
running puzzle among scientists who have pre-
                                                    the surface. Magma eventually filled the      molten material to rise to the surface.
viously claimed it may have been caused after a
                                                    region's smaller basins, creating what we     Further tests, created by modelling the
                                                                                                  region's gravitational signal, matched
                             The Tales of the Man in the Moon                                     data recorded by Grail and backs the
  When some people look at the moon they claim they can see the face or even the whole
                                                                                                  idea that the Procellarum was caused by
  body of a human. The idea of a man on the moon goes back to the Middle Ages, with the
                                                                                                  a magma plume and not an asteroid.
  earliest reference coming from the English scholar Alexander Neckham (1157 – 1217). In
  his book De Naturis Rerum he has a small section called ‘About the mark on the moon’               But the mystery of the Man in the
  where he writes: Don’t you know that which the common crowd calls “The peasant in the           Moon has still not been completely
  moon, who carries thorns’? Therefore one says commonly: The peasant in the moon,                solved despite this latest theory, accord-
  whom a (certain) bundle weighs down/Illustrates through the thorns that stealing is never       ing to Ms Zuber. She said: "How such a
  profitable.” A few other late medieval English stories also have a similar story where the      plume arose remains a mystery. It could
  man in the moon was some peasant who gets caught stealing thorns to help him build a            be due to radioactive decay of heat-
  hedge (every villager would be responsible for helping build and maintain hedges to keep        producing elements in the deep interior.
  livestock from roaming into planted fields – and they would place thorns on the hedges so       "Or, conceivably, a very early large im-
  the animals wouldn’t be able to eat that either). A medieval German tale explains there         pact triggered the plume. "But in the
  are two people on the moon – a man and a woman. The man has been banished there                 latter case, all evidence for such an im-
  because he had placed thorns on the path to a church in order to prevent people from            pact has been completely erased.
  going to Sunday mass. Meanwhile, the woman is there because she made butter on Sun-
                                                                                                  "People who thought that all this volcan-
  day. To add to their punishment the man carries his bundle of thorns on his back, while
                                                                                                  ism was related to a gigantic impact
  the woman carries a butter-tub. Another medieval legend says the man in the moon is
                                                                                                  need to go back and think some more
  Cain, who as punishment for the murder of his brother Abel is exiled to the moon with
                                                                                                  about that."              (Nagy Bianka)
  some twigs.                                                           (Nagy Bianka)
PAGE    12                                                                                                           Travelling to the Moon

                              Apollo Missions - "That's one small step for a man. One giant leap for mankind."
                                The man’s first step on the moon              orbited the moon for ten revolutions (20 hours 7 minutes) before return-
                                turned 43 years. Uncoincidently, may-         ing to the earth and a controlled reentry into the Pacific Ocean.
                                be, NASA announced recently that its          Apollo 9 was the first flight test of the complete lunar landing mission .
                                Lunar Reconaissance Orbiter (LRO)             The crew consisted of James A. McDivitt, David Randolph Scott, and Rus-
                                has captured conclusive images to             sell L. Schweickart. The first Apollo spacecraft to be named, Gumdrop
                                show that almost all American flags           (CSM) and Spider (LM) were launched into the earth's orbit on March 3,
                                hung by astronauts on the moon are            1969. During ten days of operations, the crew demonstrated all Apollo
                                still in their rightful place, undisturbed.   mission maneuvers. Remaining in the earth's orbit, the crew simulated a
  Maybe only withered. The aim of the Apollo programme was to                 lunar landing with the LM and conducted the first actual LM rendezvous
  land the first person on the Moon. However, when the program                with the CSM. The crew also practiced backup safety maneuvers, including
  was announced, in 1961, only two people had actually been in space.         a procedure in which astronauts used the LM as a lifeboat in case the com-
  Scientists were faced with a daunting task - to construct a rocket          mand module was rendered inoperable or uninhabitable. This procedure
  powerful enough to reach the Moon and a spacecraft that could               was subsequently used to recover Apollo 13.
  travel there and back. Built for the Apollo missions, the giant Saturn      Apollo 10 was a dress rehearsal for a lunar landing mission and was con-
  V rocket was one of the most powerful rockets ever built. It was            ducted in lunar orbit, but it excluded the actual landing. Launched on May
  extremely successful, with 13 perfect launches and no failures, even
                                                                              18, 1969, the spacecraft Charlie Brown (CSM) and Snoopy (LM) spent over
  during its test flights. Saturn V carried the Apollo craft into Earth
                                                                              two days and 31 revolutions in lunar orbit. The crew of Thomas P. Staf-
  orbit; then the third and final stage fired again to provide an extra       ford, John W. Young, and Eugene Andrew Cernan conducted all propulsive
  boost to place it on the correct trajectory for the Moon.                   maneuvers required for a lunar landing mission. During lunar orbit, Staf-
  Three main components made up the Apollo spacecraft. The com-               ford and Cernan descended in the LM to within 14 km (18 mi) of the lunar
  mand module (CM) held supplies and contained the crew's quarters,           surface before completing the first lunar orbit rendezvous with the CSM.
  which had just enough room for the astronauts to move around in.            This eight-day mission was recovered in the Pacific Ocean.
  Attached to the CM was the service module (SM), which housed the            Apollo 11 was the first lunar-landing mission. Launched on July 16, 1969,
  craft's main engine. It supplied electrical power and controlled the
                                                                              the crew of Neil A. Armstrong, Edwin E. Aldrin, Jr., and Michael Collins
  crew's life support system. On returning to Earth, the SM was jetti-
                                                                              flew the spacecraft Columbia (CSM) and Eagle (LM). On July 20, 1969,
  soned, the CM, with the astronauts inside returned to Earth. The            Armstrong and Aldrin landed the Eagle at the relatively flat and unob-
  third part of the craft was the lunar module. The Apollo Lunar Mod-         structed Tranquillity site on the moon, while Collins remained in the CSM.
  ule (LM) carried the astronauts onto the Moon's surface and was             The LM spent 21 hours 36 minutes on the lunar surface, and the crew
  home to them during their stay. There were no seats and there was           spent 2 hours 31 minutes outside the LM in a local area excursion on foot
  only just enough room for two astronauts to stand. Once on the              to a distance of approximately 50 m (160 ft) from Tranquillity Base. Arm-
  Moon, the astronauts could leave the LM to explore the surface.
                                                                              strong and Aldrin evaluated the capability of working on the lunar surface,
  On January 27, 1967, the launch crew and flight crew of the first           established a small scientific station, and collected 21 kg (46 lb) of lunar
  Apollo mission were conducting a simulated countdown to test                rocks and soil. Using the descent stage of the LM as a launching platform,
  the operations . The spacecraft was ready for a simulated launch,           the ascent stage of the LM took off from the moon's surface to rendezvous
  with hatch locked, power on, and an internal atmosphere of pure             and dock with the CSM. The spacecraft departed lunar orbit over two days
  oxygen. The crew of Virgil I. Grissom, Edward H. White II, and              after arrival. This eight-day mission landed and was recovered safely in the
  Roger B. Chaffee were in their space suits and performing the nor-          Pacific Ocean. As a precautionary measure, the astronauts were quaran-
  mal sequence of prelaunch activities. At about 6:30pm, after over           tined for 14 days.
  five hours of delays and problems, a spark inside the spacecraft
                                                                              Apollo 12 was the second lunar landing mission and the first mission to
  ignited flammable material and instantly engulfed the closed com-
                                                                              make a pinpoint landing on the moon. Launched on November 14, 1969,
  partment in flames. By the time the hatch was pried away more than          the crew of Pete Conrad, Richard Francis Gordon, Jr., and Alan LaVern
  five minutes later, the crew had died from asphyxiation. The precise        Bean flew the spacecraft Yankee Clipper (CSM) and Intrepid (LM). Conrad
  source of the spark and fire was never determined. As a result of           and Bean landed the LM on the southeastern Oceanus Procellarum region
  the fire, many changes were made to the design, manufacturing, test,        of the moon within 200 m (660 ft) of their target. The crew spent 31
  and checkout procedures of the vehicles and the management of the           hours 31 minutes on the lunar surface conducting two excursions for a
  entire Apollo Program. Many of these changes were tested in the
                                                                              total of 7 hours 45 minutes. The first excursion included an inspection of
  unpiloted Apollo missions 4, 5, and 6.
                                                                              the Surveyor 3 lunar probe, which had landed on the lunar surface years
  Apollo 7 was the first manned earth orbit flight test of the CSM.           earlier. Several components were extracted from the probe for engineer-
  This ten-day mission was launched on October 11, 1968. On board             ing analysis. Conrad and Bean conducted geological observations, and
  were Walter M. Shirra, Donn F. Eisle, and R. Walter Cunningham.             collected 34 kg (75 lb) of lunar rocks and soil. They departed lunar orbit
  While orbiting the earth, the crew practiced maneuvers that would           just under four days after arrival. This ten-day mission landed without
  be used in a lunar mission. After exiting orbit and re-entering the         incident in the Pacific Ocean.
  atmosphere, the capsule and crew were safely recovered in the               Apollo 13 was launched on April 11, 1970, as the third planned lunar
  Atlantic Ocean.                                                             landing mission. The crew of James A. Lovell, Jr., John L. Swigert, Jr., and
  Apollo 8 was launched on December 21, 1968, and was the first               Fred Wallace Haise, Jr., flew the spacecraft Odyssey (CSM) and Aquarius
  manned mission to achieve lunar orbit. The crew of this six-day             (LM). Two days after launch, as Apollo 13 approached the moon to begin
  mission, Frank Borman, James A. Lovell, Jr., and William A. Anders,         lunar operations, an explosion occurred that caused the service module of
  conducted a complete test of the CSM flight profile for lunar mis-          the CSM to lose its oxygen, electrical power, and other systems, including
  sions. The CSM entered lunar orbit on December 24, 1968, and                its capability to perform an abort maneuver for a direct return to the
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