1. The Moon is a planet, a satellite of the Earth, and the only one. The Moon is 384,403 kilometers from Earth.

2. The Moon is the second brightest object in the Solar System, after the Sun itself.

3. The Moon is the closest satellite of the planet to the Sun, since Mercury and Venus, which go in front of our Earth, have no satellites at all.

4. The moon appeared as a result of a collision. Scientists believe the Moon was formed when a huge object the size of the planet Mars crashed into our planet about 4.5 billion years ago. The impact was so great that huge chunks of the earth's rocks were thrown into space. Under the Earth's gravity, the ejected debris gathered in low-Earth orbit and formed our satellite. As soil studies show, it consists of less dense material that contains little iron.

5. The word Moon comes from the Proto-Slavic word “Luna”, which translates as “Light”.

Craters on the surface of the Moon

6. The entire surface of the Moon is in craters, because unlike the Earth, it does not have its own atmosphere that would protect it from cosmic bodies in the form of meteorites. When a meteorite enters the Earth's atmosphere, friction with the air causes it to ignite and, in most cases, burn up before reaching the surface. On the Moon, everything that falls on its surface leaves huge imprints in the form of craters.

7. Craters on the surface of the Moon were left by meteorites 4.1 - 3.8 billion years ago. They are still visible only because, geologically, the Moon is not as active as the Earth.

8. Among the lunar craters, Hertzsprung is the largest, reaching a diameter of 591 kilometers. It is located on the dark side of the Moon, so it is not visible from Earth. On the visible side of the Moon, the largest crater in size belongs to the Baia crater, with a diameter of 287 kilometers.

9. And the largest crater on the Moon is called Aitken, which is about 2000 kilometers in diameter. It is also the largest crater in the entire solar system.

10. Craters of the Moon were first named after famous scientists, artists and explorers, and later after the names of American astronauts and Russian cosmonauts.

Moon from the ISS

11.The moon is not actually a perfect ball. It is rather egg-shaped due to the influence of Earth's gravity. In addition, its center of mass is not in the center of the cosmic body, but approximately two kilometers away from the center.

12. Due to the fact that there is no atmosphere on the Moon, day and night change instantly, i.e. there is no twilight.

13.Today many scammers are trying to make money on the Moon. They sell plots on the Moon and give you a certificate saying that you have the right to populate several hundred square meters of lunar space. But even if the settlement of the Moon begins, such a certificate will not have any legal force and will be considered invalid.

14. For the first time, plots on the Moon began to be sold by the American company The Lunar Embassy, ​​founded by Dennis Hope, at a price of $20 per acre (approximately 4046 sq.m.). This American, having studied the UN Convention on Outer Space, concluded that it does not contain a single instruction banning the ownership of stars and planets by private individuals. In 1980, he proclaimed himself the owner of the Moon, Mars, Mercury, Io, Venus and began trading in “star” areas.

15. Official name Earth's moon - Moon. When our satellite was named the Moon, astronomers did not know that there were other planets in our solar system with the same satellite moons. Now the moons in our system are distinguished simply: our satellite is called the Moon, with a capital letter “L”, and the moons of other planets with a small letter.

16.The Moon is the fifth largest satellite of the Solar System. In fact, the largest moon is the satellite of Jupiter - Ganymede, which has a diameter of 5262 km, followed by the satellites of Saturn - Titan, Jupiter - Callisto and Io, and finally the Moon with its average diameter of 3475 kilometers.

17. In order for it to be as light at night as during the day, about three hundred thousand moons would be needed, and 206 thousand 264 moons would have to be in the full moon phase.

18. The Earth may have other natural satellites. The Cruithney asteroid moves in orbital resonance with the Earth and completes a full revolution around the planet every 770 years.

19. Gravity on the surface of the satellite is only 17% of the earth’s. Imagine that your weight is 100 kg. Standing on the surface of the Moon, you would weigh only 17 kg. You could walk 6 times the distance and carry 6 times the weight of Earth. Using only the power of your own muscles, you could make short flights over the surface of the Moon.

20. Due to the low gravity on the Earth's satellite, fine and hard lunar dust with the smell of gunpowder can penetrate everywhere. In astronauts it caused symptoms similar to hay fever. Penetrating into spacesuits and shoes, it significantly damaged them.

Moon eclipse

21. Solar eclipses occur in our lives quite often, but catching a lunar eclipse where you are is almost impossible. This chance comes once every few hundred years.

22. The moon has an atmosphere called the exosphere. It consists of helium, neon and argon.

23. The Moon from Earth appears to be the same size as the Sun. Of course, the Sun is much larger than the Moon, about 400 times, but at the same time it is 400 times farther from us. But this was not always the case. Billions of years ago, the Moon was closer to the Earth and appeared much larger than the Sun.

24. There are fresh traces on the surface of the Moon. Man walked on the moon more than four decades ago, and yet fresh imprints are still there. Is this fact evidence of the existence of life on the planet? No, these are just traces of astronauts. Since there is no wind or water on the Moon, traces there can persist for millions of years.

25. The astronauts on the Moon immediately noticed that their shadows were much darker than those on Earth. The atmosphere that scatters light to create shadows on Earth is absent on the Moon. The Earth is illuminated enough by the Sun that shadows still appear, but these shadows are much harder to see than on the Moon.

26.The Earth's satellite is more like a planet. The Earth and Moon are a double planet system, similar to the Pluto + Charon system.

27. There are moonquakes on the Moon, but compared to those on Earth, they are very weak. Their maximum rating was 5.5 points on the Richter scale. The causes of lunar “earthquakes” have not yet been clarified.

28. People always see the same side of the Moon. The Earth's gravitational field slows down the Moon's rotation around its axis. Therefore, the rotation of the Moon around its axis occurs in the same time as its rotation around the Earth.

29. It became possible to see the far side of the earth’s satellite only after October 7, 1959. On this day the Soviet space station Luna 3 took its first photograph.

30. The far side of the Moon is more mountainous compared to the one visible from Earth. This is explained by the force of gravity of the Earth, which has led to a thinner crust on the side facing our planet.

Christopher Columbus

31. Christopher Columbus, during his 4th expedition, used a total lunar eclipse to save his crew from starvation. It happened in America on February 29. The Indians of Jamaica, where the travelers were forced to spend a year, over time began to supply them with provisions worse. To frighten the aborigines, on the day of the eclipse, Columbus announced to them the wrath of the gods for their negligence and went to the ship’s cabin “to pray for forgiveness.” At the end of the eclipse, he announced that the Indians were forgiven. Food supplies have been resumed.

32. The Moon is moving further and further away from the Earth. Initially, the Earth's satellite was 22,000 kilometers from its surface, and now it is almost 400,000 kilometers away. Every year, the Moon's orbit moves about 4 centimeters from Earth, meaning that in just 500 million years, the Moon will be 23,450 km further away than it is now.

33. The only person buried on the Moon is the famous American astronomer and geologist Eugene Shoemaker. Health problems prevented him from making interplanetary flights. After his death, his ashes were delivered in a capsule by interplanetary research station Lunar Prospector to the Moon in 1998.

34. There are very large temperature fluctuations on the Moon. In the area of ​​the lunar equator, temperatures range from minus 173 at night to plus 127 degrees Celsius during the day.

35. More than 400 trees growing on Earth were brought from the Moon. The seeds from these trees were taken by the Apollo 14 crew in 1971, orbited the Moon, and returned to Earth.

Neil Armstrong

36. Over the entire existence of the Moon, 12 people have visited it. Only a small group of astronauts have ever set foot on the surface of the Moon. The first was Neil Armstrong in 1969, the last to trample the surface of the Moon was Gene Cernan in 1972. Since then, there have been no human missions to the surface of our satellite.

37. People haven't landed on the moon for 46 years. However, NASA is working on new rockets, Ares I and Ares V, that will be able to carry payload to the Moon and back.

38. The moon has its own time zone. It's called "lunar standard time," but it doesn't correspond to simple time on Earth. Time on the Moon is completely different than on Earth: a year on the Moon is divided into twelve “days.” Each “day” is named after an astronaut who set foot on the planet. "Days" are divided into 30 "cycles", which in turn are divided into hours, minutes and seconds. The calendar began when Neil Armstrong first walked on the Moon: Year 1, Day 1, Cycle 1 began on July 21, 1969 at 02:56:15 UTC.

39. 200 tons of debris on the Moon is space debris. It was left by NASA astronauts who landed on the planet during the Apollo spacecraft flights in 1969-1972. Another part of the debris remains from uncrewed flights carried out by space centers in the USA, Japan, India, Russia and European countries.

40. Today, smartphones are much more powerful than the computers used to land the Apollo on the moon.

Blood Moon

41.The bloody “queen of the night” happens during full lunar eclipse. During this period, the Earth is on the same line between the Moon and the Sun. Light waves of the red spectrum (as the longest) sunlight, refracting into earth's atmosphere, give the “night sun” a crimson tint.

42. There is no moisture on the Moon and the soil there is absolutely dry, so nothing can grow there. But lunar soil samples brought back to Earth show that lunar soil is quite suitable for growing plants.

43. The dark spots that we can see on the Moon are called Lunar maria. In total there are 17 seas, 1 ocean (ocean of storms) and 4 bays. But despite this, as mentioned above, there is no water there and all these seas are empty. It was previously believed that there really were seas there, but this version was later refuted.

44.The lunar seas were lowlands filled with basaltic lava, but now this lava has long since hardened. By the way, Neil Armstrong, who was the first to set foot on the surface of the Moon, landed on the surface of one of the seas, which was called the Sea of ​​Tranquility.

45. After the members of the Apollo 11 crew arrived from the Moon to Earth, they had to go through customs. The column “Declared cargo” included moon rocks and moon dust.

Monument to the dead cosmonauts on the moon

46. ​​The crew of the Apollo 15 spacecraft in 1971 erected something like a monument to the fallen cosmonauts on the Moon, namely an aluminum figurine in a spacesuit and a plaque with the names of 14 deceased cosmonauts. Our Yuri Gagarin was also among them.

47. There is dancing dust on the Moon. It hovers above the surface of the Moon (more intensely at sunrise or sunset). Dust particles rise upward due to electromagnetic forces.

48. A “blue moon” is a repeat full moon in a calendar month. It is observed once every 2.7154 years. The name of this event is determined not only by the color of the night star, but also by the translation of the English idiom “once in a Blue Moon”. In the Russian version, this corresponds to “after the rain on Thursday” (not soon or never).

49. The moon doesn't have its own magnetic field. However, the stones brought by the astronauts, nevertheless, magnetic properties possess. Where does this paradox come from? Scientists put forward 2 theories about this: the magnetic field disappeared due to the movement of the iron core of the Moon and its collision with meteorites.

50. The oldest debris on the Moon are from spacecraft that were sent to study the planetary surface and determine whether ships could land on it. In 1960, it was hypothesized that the planet's surface was likely covered in quicksand, which could absorb space rocks that fell onto its surface. Automatic probes installed on the Moon indicated the opposite: they showed that man was able to land on the planet.

1. There is a monument to fallen astronauts on the Moon. This is a small aluminum figurine of an astronaut in a spacesuit, just over 8 cm high. Next to the figurine there is a plaque with the names of people who gave their lives for space exploration.

2. The first living creatures to fly around the Moon in a spacecraft were Central Asian turtles. They were kept company by flies, beetles, plants, algae, seeds and bacteria.

3. There is a large temperature difference on the surface of the Moon: from -100°C to +160°C. On Earth, the maximum temperature difference is from -49 to +7 degrees. Moreover, on Earth such a difference is not the norm, since it was recorded only once - in 1916 in the state of Montana (USA).

4. The landscape of the Moon can be seen with a regular home telescope. For example, seas and lunar craters are clearly visible through home telescopes.

5. Even during the day there is a black starry sky above the Moon, since our satellite does not have its own atmosphere. The Earth is also visible from the Moon day and night. In this case, the position of the earth's disk practically does not change.

6. The force of gravity on the Moon is 6 times less than on Earth. Therefore, on the Moon, the average person could lift a load equal in weight to his own weight.

7. It will take about 20 days to fly to the moon by plane. By car you would have to travel longer - about six months, if you move without stopping at a cruising speed of 90-100 kilometers per hour.

8. From Earth, the diameter of the Moon and the Sun appears to be the same. Thanks to this amazing coincidence, earthlings can observe a solar eclipse.

9. The Earth’s satellite has its own Alps, Apennines, Pyrenees, Carpathians, and Caucasus Mountains. Mountains located on the visible side of the Moon are clearly visible through an amateur telescope.

10. In 2010, NASA proposed the “avatars” lunar project. The idea is as follows: robots are sent to the Moon, and scientists, wearing special suits, control them from Earth. If this project is implemented, then it will be possible not to send people to the Moon, but to conduct all research from the surface of their home planet.

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The reconnaissance AMC “Clementine” launched by the Pentagon (and not NASA) set off.

It was officially reported that its main task was to photograph the entire lunar surface for the subsequent creation of a complete “mosaic” map of the Moon from the resulting images. However, some American selenologists believe that this was far from the only one, and perhaps far from the main objective launch of Clementine.

And two years earlier, the group “The Mars Mission”, or TMM, headed by Professor Richard Hoagland, began “desk” studies of the lunar landscape in the USA. TMM employees decided to scrutinize all available photographs of the lunar surface that contained any oddities.

And above all, those that depict rock formations of an unnatural appearance, which could be artificial structures or their ruins. Pictures with similar images were subjected to computer analysis using a specially developed program.

Initially, the researchers discovered regularly shaped hills in one of the images that cast shadows of the corresponding shapes on the lunar surface. These were the now well-known “moon domes”.

It is difficult to explain their origin by natural causes, especially considering that, according to most researchers, active volcanic activity and tectonic processes on the Moon ceased about 3 billion years ago, and the ring mountains (circuses) and craters characteristic of its modern relief were formed due to shock impact meteorites.

The sensational triangular crater Ukert

The next sensational discovery of the TMM were photographs of the small Ukert crater, which has a clearly defined triangular shape. The images were from a series transmitted in 1967 from the Lunar Orbiter-3 probe. It is noteworthy that the crater is located exactly in the middle of the lunar disk visible from Earth.

Other images of the area around Uckert show a spiky hill that the researchers labeled "The Peak." It rises almost 2.5 km above the surface of the Moon. Knowing the mechanism of erosion of the lunar surface, it is impossible to imagine the existence of a natural formation on it that has been preserved in its current form for billions of years.



As we studied the photographs, unexpected discoveries followed one after another. It turned out that behind the “Peak” there was another hill, similar to a comet standing on its tail. This is the “Tower”, its height is 11 km. When the images of the “Peak” and “Tower” were enlarged and subjected to special computer processing, then, according to Dr. Hoagland:

“It turns out that the surfaces that reflect light the most are not on the outside of these formations, which would be logical if they were natural rock formations, but on the inside! Our research suggests that we have discovered some kind of artificial structure made of cryptocrystalline or glassy material, which was applied in layers to obtain the required geometric shape structures."

Pyramids on the Moon

One of the frames of television footage taken by the Lunar Orbiter-3 probe and designated in the NASA catalog as 71-N-1765 shows as many as 5 formations similar to terrestrial pyramids in Egypt or Nubia. At the same time, members of the TMM group learned that this probe did not transmit to Earth all the images it took. On March 2, 1967, NASA announced that the transmission of their latest series was suddenly interrupted due to the failure of the transmitting cameras on board the probe. Of the 211 images taken on Earth, only 29 were obtained.

In the process of studying the images, TMM employees discovered a large number of mysterious objects. The presence of all these “domes”, “peaks”, “towers” ​​and “pyramids” on the surface of the Moon refutes many ideas established in modern selenology. If the mentioned objects had such shapes and sizes from the very beginning of their existence, then now they would not be so tall and prominent due to the systematic “shelling” of meteorites.



If they are artificial structures, then their creators undoubtedly took care to protect their buildings. By the way, it is known that the lunar base project being developed by NASA calls for the use of steel and quartz glass as construction and protective materials.

One of the images (4822) turned out to be very interesting. It was carried out in May 1969 in the area of ​​the craters Ukert, Trisnekerl and Manitius by US astronauts flying around the Moon on the Apollo 10 spacecraft. When the image was enlarged, it was possible to discern a clearly defined area of ​​the lunar surface, clearly covered with rock panels protecting the structures underneath. When this image was enlarged even more and subjected to computer processing, new interesting details became visible.

For example, building structures rising 1.5 km above the surface, connected to each other by beams and serving as support for a giant dome, which, according to some researchers, is intended to protect the city below. And in the photographs taken recently from the Clementine, it was possible to discover that on the inside of this dome it is covered with a layer of glassy substance. But that, as they say, is not all.

For more than 30 years now, there have been persistent rumors among reputable and respected scientists and researchers that some reports of American astronauts who landed on the Moon have never been made public, are still classified as top secrecy and lie in armored safes of NASA and the Pentagon.



The reason is that the Earth's messengers allegedly saw there some objects and phenomena that did not fit into the framework of modern scientific ideas and generally contradicted common sense. The possible nature of these objects and phenomena is eloquently evidenced by a fragment of a conversation that, according to former NASA employee Otto Binder, was intercepted (again “allegedly”) by unnamed radio amateurs.

This conversation took place on July 21, 1969, between NASA Space Center and astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, who, having left the Apollo 11 spacecraft, remained in lunar orbit with Michael Collins, and descended in a lander to the surface of the Moon.

Space Center: Cent calls Apollo 11. Well, what do you have there?
Astronauts:...these “little ones”... They are huge, sir! Simply gigantic! My God, you won’t believe it!.. I’m telling you, there are other ships here, they are standing next to each other at the far edge of the crater. They are watching us!..

Here is a fragment of a conversation that took place (again, “allegedly”) between a certain professor, who wished to remain anonymous, and Neil Armstrong during a symposium held at NASA.

Professor (P): So what really happened there with Apollo 11? What did you find on the moon?»
Armstrong (A): It was incredible... The point is that these strangers made it clear to us that we should leave their territory. Of course, after this, there can be no talk of any lunar station.
P: What do you mean by "made clear"?
A: I have no right to go into details, I can only say that their ships are much superior to ours both in size and in technical sophistication. You see, they were really huge! And formidable... In general, we have nothing to think about either a lunar city or a station on the Moon.
P: But after Apollo 11, other ships also visited there.
A: Certainly. NASA did not dare to suddenly and without explanation interrupt its lunar program. This could cause panic on Earth. But the tasks of all subsequent expeditions were simplified, and the time spent on the Moon was reduced.

Secrets of the Moon

There is information that when July 21, 1969 spaceship"Apollo 11" landed on the surface of the Moon, then during the "live" television broadcast of this historical event Either Neil Armstrong or Edwin Aldrin said that a light source was visible on the edge of the nearest crater (or inside it). The mission control center did not comment on this information. Since then, the rumor has continued that astronauts saw a UFO on the edge of the lunar crater.



One of the founders of ufology in the USSR, physicist Vladimir Azhazha and Maurice Chatelet, the developer and creator of communication and information processing systems for the Apollo spacecraft, expressed confidence that there really was a UFO on the edge of the lunar crater. However, Dr. Paul Lowman from the Goddard Space Flight Center, one of the divisions of NASA, in a conversation with the English writer and ufologist Timothy Goode said the following about this:

“The very idea that such a purely civilian organization as NASA operates openly and transparently. It is absurd to conceal such a discovery from the public. We simply couldn't do it. Even if they wanted to. In addition, it is known that most radio communications with the Apollo 11 crew were transmitted to Earth in real time.”

Meanwhile, in response to a question from Timothy Goode, John McLeish, head of the information service at the Houston Manned Flight Center (now the Lyndon Johnson Space Center), wrote on May 20, 1970:

“When astronauts request a private conversation, or when management at the Control Center believes that the planned conversation should be private, it is conducted in the commonly used radio frequency range, only transmitted over special voice communication channels.

And unlike other negotiations between the Control Center and a ship in space, the content of such conversations is not made public. Means allowing an astronaut to conduct confidential conversations with the Control Center existed even then, and they still exist today.”

An interesting detail: when members of the TMM group asked NASA management for negatives of some photographs depicting strange formations and structures, they were told that these negatives... disappeared under unclear circumstances.



Moreover, when some of the missing negatives were suddenly found (also under unclear circumstances), it turned out that those areas where the images that interested the researchers were located had been carefully retouched. What did you find on the moon?

“I have no doubt,” writes Professor Hoagland, “that both NASA employees and astronauts knew about the existence of these sky-reaching objects on the Moon. Otherwise, it is difficult to understand how Apollo managed to avoid collisions with them during orbital flights around the Moon at low altitudes.”

Today, the Pentagon has several million images of the Moon and cislunar space, but only a tiny part of this gigantic video library is available for viewing and research.

Why? Why is everything related to the Clementine mission shrouded in secrecy? What is existing and happening on our natural satellite that NASA, the Pentagon and the US leadership are so diligently hiding from the public?

The results of the work of researchers from the TMM group, including the study of the few images transmitted from Clementine that have become available, confirm the plausibility of the hypothesis they put forward that once upon a time representatives of a certain scientific and technical civilization (STC) founded their colony on the Moon.



According to Dr. Hoagland, this happened several million years ago, and the giant structures and protective structures captured in the photographs (and perhaps also seen “live” by the astronauts, because they traveled more than 100 km on the Moon) are just ruins.

Who and when erected all these buildings and structures can only be found out after systematic exploration of the Moon begins. And even with the current level of development of space technology, it is quite possible to implement such a program - expeditions American ships Apollo proved this conclusively.

“We must revive our previous space program,” says Professor Hoagland, “and return to the Moon, because such people can expect us there.” scientific discoveries, which we cannot even imagine now.”

A familiar picture of the evening sky: twinkling stars, flying satellites and planes, a silent and mysterious moon. Imagine for a second that the moon has disappeared. Suddenly and forever. It seems that absolutely nothing terrible happened. We can manage without her. But no. There will be chaos and cataclysms on earth. Why?

a site about extremely curious, little-known and interesting facts about the Moon.

It just so happens that the Earth has only one natural satellite. It was formed almost 50 million years after the emergence of all solar system. This is about 4.613 billion years ago.

The Earth has only one natural satellite

Imagine that our planet is one huge. Then the tidal wave would sweep across the Earth in 24 hours and 50 minutes. This is how long the moon rises and sets.

Video about revealing facts about the Moon

When we look at the sky, both the Sun and the Moon appear to be the same size. Although in reality the Sun is 400 times larger. This happens because the Moon is about 400 times closer to the Earth. That's the math.

If you look at the Earth from the Moon, it is 4 times larger than the full moon looks from the Earth. And it never moves across the “lunar” sky, it stands strictly in one place (again, due to synchronous rotation).

The trace left by one of the astronauts on the surface of the Moon will not disappear for millions of years. The complete absence of wind and wet precipitation will reliably preserve everything and almost forever.

Moon Goddesses

The ancient Greeks and Romans worshiped moon goddesses.

Both our planet and the Moon rotate absolutely synchronously

Each phase of the moon has its own:

  1. New – Diana
  2. Full – Selena
  3. Dark Side - Hecate

Short facts about the Moon

  • We see only 59% of the surface of our satellite.
  • According to international jurisdiction, the surface of the Moon is equal to international waters. It can be used by everyone and only for peaceful purposes.
  • A compass on the surface of the Moon is completely useless due to the lack of a magnetic field.
  • Your mobile phone is 400 times more powerful than the one that helped land astronauts back in 1969.

A mysterious and silent satellite of the Earth. I wonder what you think of him when you look at the sky?

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