Slideshow P2: The Moon

The Moon is the nearest natural object to us in space.

The Moon has no air, and no water, and has no life.

There is no sound on the Moon, because there is no air for it to travel through.

The craters on the Moon's surface were made by huge chunks of rock hitting it.

The Moon is much smaller than the Earth - its radius is less than one third of the Earth's radius.

1,740 km

The Moon is 385,000 km from Earth. It would take about 200 days to get to the Moon, if travelling at the speed of a car.

The Moon orbits the Earth in about 28 days – a lunar month. The Moon also spins on its axis once in 28 days.

We only see the part of the Moon that is lit up by the Sun. This part changes shape during the lunar month.

The phases of the Moon during half of a lunar month. In the next half the lit part of the Moon will gradually become smaller.

People went to the Moon by rocket, and walked on its surface, in the 1960s and 1970s. Gravity is less on the Moon. This means that an astronaut’s weight on the Moon is one sixth of his weight on Earth.

Because the Moon has no atmosphere, there is no erosion by wind or water, so this footprint left by an astronaut will never disappear.