Earth’s Moon (Chapter 24)

Distance from the Earth to the Moon? 239,320 miles ; 386,000 kilometers

Luna Series of space probes launched by the former Soviet Union toward the Moon.

Luna 1 Performed the first successful flyby of the Moon before orbiting the Sun.

Luna 2 Crashed into the Moon on purpose. Test surface strength. and the ability to hit a moving object in space.

Luna 3 Orbited the Moon and returned with photos of the surface and far side of the Moon.

Pioneer 1-3 Unsuccessful attempts to orbit the Moon by the United States.

Pioneer 4 Reached escape velocity from the Earth and returned data as it flew past the Moon

Ranger Designed to send back pictures of the Moon’s surface and crash into it.

Surveyor Soft-land on the Moon. Scoop and analyze lunar soil and rock Determine surface strength.

Mercury First American manned spacecrafts.

Mercury 3 Alan Shepard’s flight, first of nine Mercury missions. Fifteen minute flight done on live TV.

Mercury 6 John Glenn the first American to orbit the Earth. 5 hours, 3 orbits.

Mercury 9 Final flight of Mercury complete 22 orbits and lasted 34 hours. L. Gordon Cooper May 15, 1963

Gemini Designed for two astronauts. Purpose: 1.see if humans could withstand space flight. 2.work in weightlessness of space for 10 days, 3.maneuver the spacecraft.

Apollo First successful manned missions to the Moon by the United States. 6 total missions. Apollo 11, first on Moon, Neil Armstrong, Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins

Command module Portion of the space craft that held the 3 astronauts.

Service module Contained the life support systems, electrical power supply and the small maneuvering rockets.

Lunar module Used by the astronauts to travel to the Moon’s surface and back to the orbiting command module.

Space shuttle –Designed to be reused with a short turn around time (a few months). –Contains 3 main units: 1.the orbiter 2.the external fuel tanks 3.two solid rocket boosters.

(RMS) Remote manipulator system used to lift objects out of the shuttle’s cargo bay.

Galileo, Magellan, Hubble Space Telescope, Ulysses, Gamma Ray observatory,Spacelab Satellites deployed by space shuttle missions.

Moon’s diameter 3476 kilometers 2155 miles

Maria/mare (latin) Galileo named areas on the lunar surface, thought to be oceans. Dark basins and level plains on the lunar surface that looked like they were filled with water.

Micrometeroids Tiny particles no larger than grains of sand constantly bombarding the Moon and other satellites.

Mascons Short for “mass concentrations. Areas of higher gravity due to what scientists believe are buried mare basins.

Rilles Deep, long clefts or cracks running through the maria bedrock. May be formed when the roof a lava tunnel caved in.

Craters Hollows in the Moon’s surface, formed mostly by impacts of meteoroids.

Rays Bright streaks that radiate from a number of craters. Can be up to thousands of km’s long. Made mostly of shattered rock and dust splashed out by the meteoroid impacts.

Regolith Loose, grayish-brown small rock material found on the Moon’s surface. Contains no water or organic material.

Gardening Stirring of regolith by the impact of meteoroids.

Perigee When the Moon is nearest to the Earth.

Apogee When the Moon is farthest from the Earth.

Phases Daily changes in the Moon’s appearance that occur for two reasons: 1. The Moon reflects sunlight. 2. The Moon orbits the Earth and changes position constantly.

Waxing The change of the Moon from new to full phases. The Moon appears to be getting larger.

Waning The change of the Moon from full to new phases. The Moon appears to be getting smaller or waning away.

Lunar month The time it takes to go from one new moon to the next new moon. (29.5 days) One revolution only takes 27.3 days.

Umbra The total shadow and is long, narrow cone.

Penumbra The partial shadow surrounding the umbra, also cone shaped.

Lunar eclipse Occurs when the Moon passes into Earth’s umbra. Will occur only during the full moon phase.

Solar eclipse occurs when the Moon’s umbra reaches the Earth’s surface. Can occur only during a new moon phase.

Annular Eclipse that occurs when the Moon is at apogee and the umbra shadow fails to reach the Earth’s surface. Also known as the ring eclipse.

Tides daily rise and fall of the ocean’s waters due to the gravitational pull of the Moon and the Sun.

Direct high tide water on the moon- side of the Earth. Pulled directly by the gravity of the Moon.

Indirect high tide Earth is pulled away from water on the far side of the Earth by the gravity of the Moon.

Spring tide occur twice a month with highest high and lowest low tides. Largest tidal range. Occur during full and new moon phases.

Neap tide occur twice a month with lowest high and highest low tides. Smallest tidal range. Occur during first and last quarter phases.

Tidal range The difference in level between high and low tide lines.