-->

• The moon is Earth's only natural satellite. Because it lacks an atmosphere, the moon's surface is barren, rocky, and covered in craters from meteorite impacts. Its orbit around the Earth provides a gravitational pull that controls oceanic tides and stabilizes Earth's orbit around the Sun.

• Fast Facts

  1. Radius: 1,737 kilometers (27% of Earth's radius)
  2. Circumference: 10,916 kilometers
  3. Surface area: 37.9 million square kilometers (7% of Earth's surface area)
  4. Mass: 7.43x10²² kilograms
  5. Distance from the Earth: 356,400-406,700 kilometers
  6. The sun's gravitational pull influences distance from Earth
  7. Gravity is about 17% that of Earth's
  8. Completes an orbit of Earth in 27.3 days (655.72 hours)
  9. Travels at an average speed of 3,682.8 kilometers per hourNASA-JPL: [Earth's Moon - Facts & Figures
  10. Lacks any significant atmosphere
  11. Temperature range: -250 to 250 degrees FahrenheitNASA: Moon Fact Sheet

• Related Mahalo Pages

  Solar System | Lunar Eclipse (February 20-21, 2008) | NASA | Telescopes | August 28, 2007 Lunar Eclipse | Mars | Sun | Neptune | Mercury | Venus | Earth | Pluto | Uranus | Jupiter | Saturn | Neil Armstrong | Buzz Aldrin | The Apollo | Space Shuttle | Milky Way

Categories

• View History
• Discuss on the Message Board
• Embed this Page
• Share this page