Get ready to have your mind blown, because the Moon isn't just a pale, glowing disc in the sky-it's a world full of crazy history and extreme science! We're taking you on an adventure to uncover ten absolutely specific and surprising facts about our closest cosmic neighbor. Forget what you think you know; by the time we're done, you'll be the expert ready to tell everyone else what's really up there!
The Moon's mass is a giant 7.3 x 10²² kg!
That massive number, 7.3 × 10²² kg, is how much the Moon weighs in scientific notation. That's a 73 followed by 21 zeros!
To put that in perspective, the Moon’s mass is only about 1.2% of Earth's mass.
It's smaller than Earth, but that lower mass is why you weigh only one-sixth of your Earth weight when you stand on the Moon!
The Moon rotates at the same speed it orbits, so one side always faces Earth.
The Moon takes about 27 days to spin once on its axis—and it takes 27 days to go around the Earth!
Because these times match perfectly, the same side of the Moon is always pointed toward us. This is called tidal locking.
The side we don't see is called the far side, not the dark side, because it gets just as much sunlight as the side we see!
Apollo 11 reached a top speed of 25,000 mph but still took 3 days to get there.
After launching, the Apollo 11 spacecraft hit a speed of nearly 25,000 mph—that’s faster than most bullets!
Even at that incredible speed, it took the astronauts about 3 days to cover the 238,855 miles to the Moon.
They couldn't just blast straight there; they had to carefully coast on a long, curved path where Earth’s gravity slowed them down first.
Temperatures in one moon crater dropped to -253°C!
While the sunny side can bake at 120° Celsius (250° F), shadows on the Moon get unbelievably cold!
Deep inside a crater near the North Pole, scientists measured a chilling -253° Celsius (-424° F).
That's colder than the average temperature of empty space itself—brrr! No wonder the astronauts stayed in the sun!
Our satellite is slowly drifting about 1 inch farther every year.
The Moon is moving away from Earth at a speed of roughly 3.8 centimeters per year—that’s about 1 inch!
This is because of the tidal forces—the pull between the Earth and Moon causes energy transfer that pushes the Moon outward.
Don't worry, it will take billions of years before this makes any noticeable difference to our nights.
The South Pole–Aitken basin is 2,500 km across, covering a quarter of the surface!
Meet the South Pole–Aitken basin, the Moon’s biggest, oldest, and deepest impact scar, about 4.2 billion years old.
It's about 2,500 kilometers (1,600 miles) in diameter—that’s wider than the entire country of France!
This gigantic hole covers nearly a quarter of the Moon's entire surface area!
12 Moonwalkers left behind equipment, flags, and scientific tools across six landing sites.
The six successful Apollo landings between 1969 and 1972 left behind tons of equipment.
This includes six American flags, scientific instruments, and even cameras left by the Moonwalkers.
The Apollo astronauts collected a total of 382 kilograms (842 pounds) of rocks and soil to bring back to Earth for study.
Radio waves take 1.3 seconds to get there, and 1.3 seconds to return.
Light (and radio waves) take about 1.3 seconds to travel from Earth to the Moon at its average distance.
When mission control talked to astronauts, there was always a 2.6-second delay for the 'hello' and 'I copy' response.
This proves the Moon is 238,855 miles away on average, showing us how fast light really is!
The oldest rock samples collected by Apollo 17 show the Moon formed 4.46 billion years ago.
By studying tiny zircon crystals in lunar dust brought back by the Apollo 17 mission, scientists dated the Moon.
The oldest sample they found sets the age at a stunning 4.46 billion years old.
This means the Moon formed about 50 million years after the Solar System started, likely from a massive Mars-sized planet collision!
The Moon's gravity tugs on our oceans, causing high and low tides daily.
The Moon's gravity is weak compared to Earth's, but it’s strong enough to pull on our planet’s water.
This pull creates a bulge of water on the side facing the Moon, causing high tide.
As Earth spins beneath these bulges, coastal areas experience two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours (or so)!
It's better called the far side! Because the Moon rotates at the same speed it orbits Earth, the far side never faces us. It still gets sunlight, though—it's only dark when it's a New Moon phase for us.
The trip takes about 3 days! While the maximum speed for Apollo 11 was nearly 25,000 mph, the journey is long and curved, taking around **75 hours and 55 minutes** for the actual travel time.
The phases—like crescent or full—are just how much of the sunlit part of the Moon we can see from Earth. The entire lunar cycle, from one New Moon to the next, takes **29.5 days**.
Absolutely! NASA’s **Artemis program** is actively working to send astronauts back to the Moon in the coming years, with the goal of establishing a long-term presence there!
See? The Moon is way more complex and exciting than just a nightlight! Now you know about its massive craters, its slow drift away from us, and the incredible journey it took for humans to actually walk on its surface. Keep looking up tonight—your next great adventure in learning is waiting right above your head!
Explore More Facts →
So we can tailor your experience
We'll use this to shape your experience.