THE MOON

By

Astronomy Course Session: XXX

Prof.

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 The Moon

The Moon, the most studied celestial body in our galaxy and the first visited place outside Earth,

the one that very faithfully awaited for humankind, in an unforgettable date with our Earth’s

ambassadors which finally took place on July 20, 1969.

From the beginnings of humanity, men have been looking up at the strange object in the outer

space and wonder why it is there and where it came from.

From History and Mythology we have learned that the planets and moons were believes to have

been gods and deities. Their names were actually derived from Romans, Greeks and

Babylonians’ customs. In particular, in ancient Greece, the sun and the moon where personified

the Sun as Helios, while the Moon was an ancient lunar deity and the daughter of the Titans

Hyperion and Theia. In Roman times, the moon was known as Luna (Lat. for moon) and it was

considered a goddess. Its name Luna is still been used in all Latin/Spanish speaking countries

among others.

On the other hand, "scientists believe that the moon formed as a result of a collision known as

the Giant Impact or 'Big Whack'." [http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/moon_worldbook.html]

Some scientist believed that earth collided with another planet or object over 4.5 billion years

ago. The result was a cloud of vaporized rock that shot from the surface and then went into orbit

around the earth. As it cooled, it formed a ring of small solid bodies, which then formed the now

called “Moon.”

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Some Moon Facts

• The Moon was originally formed much closer to Earth than it is now, then a day on the

Earth used to be as short as 6 hours. Because of the tidal interaction between the Moon and

the Earth, both the rotation of the Earth is slowing and the distance between the Earth and the

Moon is increasing”

• The standard distance from the Moon to the Earth is (238,857 miles), which is about 30

times the diameter of the Earth. The Moon has a diameter of 3,474 kilometers (2,159 miles)

slightly more than a quarter that of the Earth.

• The moon is a little over 1/4 the size of earth, with a diameter of 2160 miles.

• Rocks cover the surface Moon, as well as grit which is mostly a dark-gray mineral, that

reflects light poorly compared to Earth

• The Moon is light for its size and has a small core. A new moon-rock study suggests the

satellite has an iron core. The findings add weight to the theory that the moon formed from

debris thrown off when a Mars-size object collided with a young Earth (related: "Moon

Derives From Earth, Space Object, Study Says" [August 8, 2003]).

• The Moon temperature ranges from -320°F to 248°F (-160°C to 120°C). Its temperature

varies dramatically over the course of a day. The Temperature fluctuates from 100 degrees

Celsius in the afternoon to -175 degrees Celsius at night

• The moon has an albedo of 7. Albedo is a measurement that tells us how strongly a

celestial body reflects light from light sources such as the Sun.

• There is no wind on the moon, so the footprints left by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin

will be on the surface of the moon for centuries.

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How are a lunar eclipse and solar eclipse different?

A lunar eclipse occurs at night and a solar eclipse occurs during the day. There are only certain

periods when either of them can occur. A lunar eclipse can only occur when the moon is directly

opposite the Sun in the sky — a full moon. Even though there is a full moon each month,

evidently a lunar eclipse does not occur on a monthly basis because the Sun is not exactly in line

with the Earth and the moon. The moon's orbit is actually tilted 5 degrees more than that of the

Earth; otherwise, we would see a lunar eclipse each month.

We can see lunar eclipses more readily than solar eclipses, and it has to do with closeness. The

Moon is much closer to the Earth (well over 300 times closer than the Sun!), so the Earth has a

much greater chance of blocking sunlight to the Moon, compared to the Moon blocking light

from the Sun. In addition, a lunar eclipse can be seen from a greater portion of the Earth.

Solar eclipse occurs during the day where the Moon blocks the Sun light and when they do

happen they are only seen by a small segment of people on Earth, for a short period.

Why the different colors of the Moon?

During a total lunar eclipse, the Moon will turn into a deep orange color; its reason for the color

is due to the diffusion of light in the atmosphere. By the time the moonlight reaches our eyes, the

green, blue, and purple pieces of visible light have been scattered away by air molecules. At this

point, we will only see yellow, orange, or red.

Sometimes the moon appears orange when it is directly overhead. This is due to the dust, smoke,

or pollution in the atmosphere. The particle size will determine the type of color you will see.

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It seems like the moon appears in different colors at different times of the year. For example, in

the fall, farmers that harvest their crops and a lot of dust from the soil of the crops get disturbed,

floating into the atmosphere, which cause the scattering of the light and hence the different

colors of the moon. The name "Harvest Moon" refers to when the moon color appears orange

due to its lower position in the sky during the fall season and the dust from the soil of the crops.

NASA PROGRAMS

The National Aeronautics and Space

Administration (NASA) is an American

government agency in charge of the space

program, which aim is to increase human

understanding of the solar system and the

universe. To this effect, NASA created various

initial programs to probe space; among them, we

The crew of Apollo 11: (L-R) Neil Armstrong,
Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin. have Project Gemini, Project Mercury, and the

Apollo Program. It was the Apollo program which successfully landed the first humans on

Earth's Moon.

Apollo 11 landed on the moon on July 20, 1969. It took the Apollo astronauts less than four days

to reach the moon. The names of the three ambassadors for humankind were Neil Armstrong,

Michael Collins and Buzz Aldrin.

Apollo 11 Mission and its landing

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In January 1969, the crew for Apollo 11 was announced. Neil Armstrong was chosen as the

Commander, Edwin ‘Buzz’ Aldrin was the Lunar Module Pilot, and Michael Collins was the

Command Module Pilot. The astronauts blasted off on a Saturn V rocket at 9:32am EDT on July

16, 1969. The Command Module name was Columbia and Eagle the Apollo Lunar Module.

The spacecraft went into lunar orbit insertion at 1:21pm on July 19. The Command Center

Module and The Lunar Module (the Eagle) separated at 2:11pm on July 20. The Eagle landed on

the Moon on at 4:17pm EDT on July 20, 1969.

The Lunar landing

During the descent to the lunar surface at 6000 feet, a yellow caution light came on in the Lunar

Module and the astronauts encountered serious problem that could have caused them to abort.

The astronauts noticed that the intended landing site was rockier than surveillance photographs

had indicated. Armstrong took manual control of the lunar module at that point and guided it to a

landing.

The Eagle landed on the Moon on at 4:17pm EDT on July 20, 1969 with less than 30 seconds

worth of fuel left in the lunar module. The site where Apollo 11 landed was named “the Sea of

Tranquility.”

On landing, the Eagle announced "Houston, Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed!”

Houston replied "Roger, Tranquility. We copy you on the ground. You have a bunch of guys

about to turn blue. We are breathing again. Thanks a lot.”

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This great accomplishment represented the dreams and hopes of over four hundred thousand men

and women from different disciplines whom worked together to realize what once was

considered the impossible.

There were also an estimated 600 million people, or one fifth of the world's population watching

this historical event unfold

The Moon Walk

The mission schedule called for arrest period following the landing. Armstrong had, on earth,

agreed to the schedule while at the same time knowing he would probably change it on the

moon. With the landing complete and tasks allowing for an emergency evacuation accomplished,

neither Neil Armstrong nor Buzz Aldrin wanted to rest; they wanted to walk on the surface.

Finally, six hours after landing, Neil Armstrong stepped off the Eagle Lunar Module onto the

surface of the Moon at 10:52 p.m. on July 20, changing the original scheduled day for the Moon

Walk from 2 a.m. EDT on July 21.

Neil Armstrong made the first human footprint on the moon, and he gave us the famous phrase

that said, "One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”

Their tasks at the Moon.

Armstrong's interest was first directed at the nature of the surface material. He reported that the

top layer was a fine, powdery material. He informed NASA that he sunk in only a quarter of an

inch or less, and that the footpads of the LM, which are convex discs 32 inches in diameter, had

penetrated only a few inches. He also noted that the exhaust of the descent engine had not

cratered the area directly below the LM engine nozzle.

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After a quick visual check of the LM, Armstrong went ahead with his scheduled task of

collecting the contingency sample - several pounds of lunar surface material, which he stowed

in a spacesuit pocket. In the course of his collecting, he noted that as he dug down five or six

inches below the surface, he encountered hard, cohesive material. Armstrong had been assigned

this collection, as a first task to make sure that there would be samples aboard in case an early

abort of the mission was necessary.

Their return

In the early morning hours of July 24, 8 days, 3 hours, 18 minutes, and 18 seconds after leaving

Kennedy Space Center, Apollo 11 splashed down at 12:50 GMT in the mid-Pacific. From a

mobile, quarantine facility, on board of the U.S.S. Hornet. Neil Armstrong, Michael Collins and

Buzz Aldrin accepted the nation's congratulations from President Nixon, who had flown out to

the Hornet to meet them.

The Moon landing is consider one the greatest accomplishments of

humankind.

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REFERENCES

* From Aerospace Guide Source from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved May 22, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://www.aerospaceguide.net/apollo/apollo11.html

** From Wikipedia The Free Encyclopedia from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved May 22, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Selene

*** From Free Mars by Jeff Root February 18, 2003 Source from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved May 22, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://www.freemars.org/jeff/planets/Luna/Luna.htm

**** From MOON CONNECTION Source from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved May 22, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://www.moonconnection.com/lunar_vs_solar.phtml

***** From windows to the universe Source from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved May 22, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

Submitted by Patrick (age 6, South Dakota, USA) (January 9, 1998)

http://www.windows2universe.org/kids_space/orangemoon.html

****** From NASA Source from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved May 22, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://www.nasa.gov/worldbook/moon_worldbook.html

******* From The Chevron Cars Source from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved May 29, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://www.chevroncars.com/learn/arts-culture/borning-room

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******** From TV by the Numbers Source from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved May 29, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://tvbythenumbers.com/2009/07/17/moonwalk-draws-125-million-viewers-cbs-and-cronkite-

win-big/23014

********* From The Lunar Landing Hoax Sources from the World Wide Web

Retrieved May 29, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://lunarlandinghoax.com/about/apollo-11/

********** From the BBC News Source from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved May 29, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/21/newsid_2635000/2635845.stm

*********** From BOEING Source from the World Wide Web.

Retrieved June 4, 2010 from the World Wide Web.

http://www.boeing.com/defense-space/space/apollo11/index.html

*************Astronomy class notes and comments from online discussions XXXXX

University XXXX 20XX

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