Moon
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It orbits at an average distance of 384,400 km (238,900 mi), about 30 times the diameter of Earth. Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have over time synchronized the Moon's orbital period with its rotation period at 29.5 Earth days, causing the same side of the Moon to always face Earth. The Moon's gravitational pull – and to a lesser extent, the Sun's – are the main drivers of Earth's tides.
Some of the key events about Moon
- 1959First spacecraft reached the Moon's vicinity and sent back images of the far side
- 1969First humans landed on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission
- 1969Astronauts left behind nearly 100 bags of human waste on the lunar surface
- 1970The Apollo 13 mission to the Moon was aborted due to an oxygen tank explosion
- 1971First vehicle driven on the Moon during the Apollo 15 mission
- 1972Last human mission to the Moon to date, Apollo 17, was completed
- 1972The last human mission to the Moon, Apollo 17, marked the end of lunar exploration for decades
- 1976The Soviet Union's Luna 24 mission became the last successful robotic probe to return samples from the Moon
- 1994Clementine mission provided the first complete topographic map of the Moon
- 1998Lunar Prospector mission discovered evidence of water ice at the lunar poles
- 1999The Lunar Prospector spacecraft was intentionally crashed into the Moon's south pole, ending its mission
- 2006The European Space Agency's SMART-1 probe crashed into the lunar surface, concluding its mission
- 2008India's Chandrayaan-1 mission confirmed the presence of water molecules on the lunar surface
- 2009The Indian Space Research Organisation lost contact with its Chandrayaan-1 lunar orbiter
- 2013China's Chang'e 3 mission achieved the first soft landing on the Moon since 1976
- 2019China's Chang'e 4 mission accomplished the first-ever landing on the far side of the Moon
- 2019Israel's Beresheet spacecraft crashed on the lunar surface during its landing attempt
- 2019India's Vikram lander crashed on the Moon's surface during the Chandrayaan-2 mission
- 2020NASA's SOFIA mission confirmed water on the sunlit surface of the Moon
- 2023Russia's Luna-25 mission crashed into the Moon's surface during a landing attempt
Disclaimer: This material is written based on information taken from open sources, including Wikipedia, news media, podcasts, and other public sources.
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