The Moon

It has been fascinating getting into our inquiry into space. We have been learning just how lucky we are to be alive. There are a lot of factors that go into making our earth habitable. This includes our perfect distance from the sun, our atmosphere, the slight tilt of the earth, the length of our days, and the distance and size of the moon. We have explored the Moon in depth and learnt just how crucial it has been to the earths development and our existence today. Some fascinating facts:

• The Moon is slowly getting further from earth - 3.8 cm a year (they measure this by reflecting lazers off mirrors the astronauts left)
• We only ever see one side of the moon
• The moon slows the earths spin down.
• You weigh less on the moon. There is less gravity.
• The moon has no atmosphere which means no protection from meteors. It also causes it to have extreme temperatures - 110 degrees to 130 degrees. There is no wind or sound up there too.
• They are planning to go back to the moon to create a space station. They have found water on the moon which means they could create fuel on the moon and rockets could refuel and go much further into space if they launch from the Moon
• One man is wanting to put lots of solar panels on the moon as they would be much more effective up there. They would then transport the energy created back to the earth through mirowaves. He thinks there would be enough to power the whole earth!
• The moon has quakes.
• They think a moon was created by an object the size of Mars crashing into the earth and the debri formed the moon. Many in the class thought going back to the moon is a bad idea as humans have messed up Earth and we shouldn't do the same to the moon.