The Moon

The Moon☾

General Information

Other name

Luna

Designation

Earth Ⅰ

Exploration

First landing

3 Feb. 1966

Luna 9^W

First crewed landing

26 June 1969

First person

Alexei Leonov (Soviet Union)

First woman

Anastasia Belikova (Soviet Union, Sept 1969)

Bases

Jamestown (USA)
Zvezda (USSR)
Unnamed base (China)
Various Helium-3 mines (Helios, Kuragin, Exxon, Halliburton, Shell)
Hilton luxury hotel (late 90s)

Satellites

Lunar orbiter (NASA, 1970)
MoonLab (NASA, mid 80s)

Notable events

First Moon landing (1969)
Jamestown crisis (1983)

Astronomical & Physical Information

Location	Primary body
Solar System	Earth

Position	Type	Subtype
1	Moon	Terrestrial

Diameter

3,474 km (2,159 mi)

Surface area

3.793×10⁷ km²

Volume

2.1958×10¹⁰ km³

Mass

7.346×10²² kg

Mean density

3.344 g/cm³

Surface gravity

1.622 m/s²
(0 g)

Escape velocity

2.38 km/s
(8,600 km/h)
(5,300 mph)

Rotation velocity

4.627 km/s
(16,660 km/h, 10,350 mph)

Blackbody temperature

270.4 K
(−2.8 °C, 27.0 °F)

Surface temperature
at equator

Min.
100 K
(−173.2 °C)
(−279.7 °F)

Max.
390 K
(116.9 °C)
(242.3 °F)

Mean
250 K
(−23.1 °C)
(−9.7 °F)

Surface temperature
at 85°N

Max.
230 K
(−43.1 °C)
(−45.7 °F)

Mean
150 K
(−123.1 °C)
(−189.7 °F)

Surface pressure

Day:

1.0×10⁻⁷ Pa (1 picobar)

Night:

1.0×10⁻¹⁰ Pa (1 femtobar)

Orbital speed

1.022 km/s
(3,680 km/h, 2,290 mph)

Length of day

27.32 Earth days

Length of year

27.32 Earth days

Distance to Earth

Min.

363,396 km
(225,803.81 mi)

Max.

405,504 km
(251,968.5 mi)

Mean

384,399 km
(238,854.46 mi)

Communication delay

Min.

1.212 sec

Max.

1.353 sec

Mean

1.282 sec

Earth, Sun & Moon

The Moon is an astronomical body that orbits Earth and its only permanent natural satellite.

History[]

In the 1960s, as part of the ongoing Space Race, the Soviet Union and the United States of America competed against each other to be first to land a man on the Moon. The Race to the Moon ended when the Soviets achieved the first manned landing on June 26, 1969, with cosmonaut Alexei Leonov becoming the first man to set foot on the Moon, leaving the world and especially the US in shock.^[1]

About a month after Leonov's successful mission, Apollo 11 landed America's first astronauts on the Moon, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.^[1]

In 1971, NASA scientist Ray Schumer discovered potential water ice in craters near the lunar south pole after analyzing images of the lunar orbiter. This was later verified by Molly Cobb, who indeed found ice inside the Shackleton Crater during the Apollo 15 mission.^[2]

On the 12th of October 1973, NASA was able to land their first base on the Moon, Jamestown,^[2] followed closely by the Soviet base, Zvezda.^[3] Both countries set their bases at the edge of the Shackleton Crater and have since continued to maintain and expand them.

The Moon was later divided between the U.S. and Soviets with the Lunar Peace Agreement, signed by Ronald Reagan and Yuri Andropov in 1984.^[4]

In July of 1987, China opened its own, as of yet unnamed lunar base.^[5]

By the late 1990s, Hilton^W opened the first hotel on the Moon for the general public.^[6] During this time, miners on the Moon voted to unionize while major energy conglomerates such as Shell^W, Halliburton^W, and Exxon^W filed an antitrust lawsuit against Helios for rights to Helium-3 mining operations on the Moon.^[7] In 1999, Moon workers went on strike for over a week.^[8]

In the early 2000s, the Moon remains a focal point for pop culture on Earth, with reality TV series such as "Moon Miners" dominating primetime ratings.^[9]