The Moon is the only natural satellite of the Earth. The Moon orbits the Earth at an average distance of about 384,000 kilometres and has a diameter of 3480 kilometres at its equator. The moon has a gravitational pull which is only one-sixth that of the Earth. The Moon has no free water and has essentially no atmosphere at all, so that there is no weather change on its surface. The Moon completes one revolution around the Earth in 27 days 7 hours and 43 minutes and it rotates once about its own axis every 29.5 days, which means that the same side of the Moon is almost always facing towards the Earth. The Moon is of similar age to the Earth, at about 4.6 billion years. Surface temperatures range from 127 down to -173 degrees centigrade |
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Neil Armstrong |
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