What do we all know for sure about the moon? That it is the only natural satellite of the Earth. And that it is precisely because of the gravitational impact of this gigantic flying block in the earth's seas and oceans that the tides occur.
But in fact, of course, we know quite a bit about the Moon, despite the fact that it, as the closest cosmic object to the Earth, is currently studied in more detail. Not only that - a man’s foot has already stepped on it (but this is not exactly how violently people assure us, stubbornly not believing that there were Americans on the Moon, - they say, they simply removed the "moonlit" in the most ordinary "cinema" Hollywood Pavilion). We will not argue with anyone, because now our task is not this. We just want to introduce you to some interesting facts about the moon that you most likely have not heard of.
10. The first turtles to fly around the moon
Many of us have heard about the famous astronaut - the dog Laika. Even younger schoolchildren know about Belka and Strelka (especially since from 2010 to 2013 4 full-length Russian cartoons were shot about them). More advanced experts in the history of space exploration are aware that monkeys, white mice, guinea pigs, and newts with frogs have also visited space. But the fact that the Central Asian turtles (in the company of bugs, flies, algae, seeds of terrestrial plants and bacteria) were the first of all living creatures to fly around the Moon, the majority now probably learned for the first time.
9. From the Earth to the Moon it is theoretically possible to reach in 9 years
The distance from the Earth to the Moon is 384,400 km. How much it? How to imagine, at least approximately, such a figure? And like this:
- a ray of light travels this distance in 1.25 seconds;
- the Apollo 15 spacecraft in July 1971 flew to the moon a little longer than three days;
- by plane, the speed of which is 800-850 km / h, we would get there in about 20-21 days;
- on a car continuously moving at a speed of 90-100 km / h - for six months (160-180 days);
- Well, if someone decided to master such a road on foot, with a quick step, then he would walk (and this is non-stop!) for 9 years.
8. Craters and seas on the moon can be seen even in a weak telescope
Even if you have only the most ordinary home telescope available, you can easily admire the lunar landscapes. On the surface of the Earth’s satellite there are a huge number of craters that appeared from strikes on the lunar surface of various celestial bodies (you know that the Moon, unlike the Earth, does not have a dense atmosphere that would literally burn almost all “uninvited guests” ?), as well as 17 “seas” (and, in fact, vast fields of long-frozen lava), Ocean of Storms and 4 “gulfs”.
The largest lunar crater (which is located on the dark side of the moon, not visible from Earth) is Hertzsprung, its diameter is 536 km. And on the side of the satellite that faces us “face”, the largest is the Bayi crater (301 km). Both of them are named after famous scientists. In addition, on the moon there are craters Archimedes, Aristotle, Tycho Brahe, Copernicus, Gagarin, Korolev, etc. And with your home telescope you can view the Carpathians, Apennines, Alps, the Caucasus, the Pyrenees and other lunar mountains that are on the visible side of the moon.
By the way, are you aware that we always observe the same side of the satellite? This is due to the fact that the Moon rotates around its own axis in exactly the same time during which its complete revolution around the Earth takes place. And in fact, the "dark side of the moon" is just as illuminated by the sun as the bright one. For the first time, scientists were able to see it in 1959, when the Soviet space station Luna-3 circled the moon, photographing this “secret” part of it.
7. On the moon, the daily temperature fluctuates very much
Due to the lack of atmosphere on the Moon (which could prevent a sharp heating or sharp cooling of its surface), very strong differences in daily temperatures occur here: in different places - from -173-150 ° to + 100-127 ° Celsius (i.e. immediately at 250-280 °, and in a matter of minutes). Can you imagine that? Even 10 minutes ago, any living organism could easily freeze to a “glass” state, but the Sun has risen, and it immediately begins to literally fry until golden brown. Horror…
But on Earth, the sharpest temperature difference (recorded in 1916 in the USA, in the state of Montana) was only 56 ° - from -49 ° to + 7 °, and this happened only once (and thank God!).
6. During an eclipse, the diameter of the lunar and solar discs coincide
Solar eclipse is a rather rare (and therefore very interesting) phenomenon. Many exalted, passionate about mysticism or simply very religious people consider it by no means a coincidence that from the Earth the diameters of the solar and lunar disks seem almost identical. Yes, actually this is actually an amazing, albeit completely scientific fact, that the Moon is about 400 times smaller than the Sun in diameter, while its distance to the Earth is exactly the same 400 times less than the distance from Earth to the sun. And therefore, when the moon is in line with the sun when it rotates around our planet, it closes it almost perfectly.
5. The moon is always starry sky, and the shadows are very thick
Again, due to the fact that the Moon does not have an atmosphere, a black, starry sky is always visible from its surface (and the Earth is always visible, and it is always in the same position - that is, if there were inhabitants on the Moon, then for them, too, there would be a “dark side of the Earth”), and night and day are replaced instantly, without a smooth transition, as on our native blue planet.
No, in fact, the moon has a very rarefied semblance of the earth's atmosphere - the exosphere, which consists of helium, hydrogen, neon and argon. But it is already 10 trillion times less dense than ours. The consequences of this phenomenon are as follows:
- there are no winds on the earth’s satellite, and therefore, for example, traces left by the Soviet lunar rover or American astronauts will remain here for hundreds of thousands, and maybe millions of years;
- the shadows on the Moon are much darker than on Earth (since the light in the absence of the atmosphere is not scattered by anything), because of which it was very difficult for the members of the American space expedition to work in the shadow of the ship — they hardly even saw their own hands and almost did not see their legs;
- silence always reigns on the moon, because sounds cannot spread there;
- the surface of our satellite is constantly influenced by cosmic radiation and the “solar wind” - nothing stops them either.
4. On the moon, all earthlings are heroes
Gravity on the surface of the moon is only 16.5% of the earth (that is, the gravitational force here is 6 times less than usual for us). It turns out that, theoretically, the weight of a 100-pound male earthling on the moon will be only 17 kg. And at the same time, he will be able to overcome distances and lift weights 6 times greater than on Earth. And also - without too much difficulty jumping up 15 meters. On the one hand, of course, this is great, but on the other, it is very dangerous, because in the end you can accidentally "jump" into some deep crater.
Another major danger arising from low gravity is the ubiquitous fine moon dust. Because of her, Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin (who do not know - the first people who visited the Moon) experienced huge inconvenience. This dust, constantly hanging over the lunar surface, penetrated everywhere - into the cracks of the equipment (quickly putting it out of order), into spacesuits, and even into the lungs of the astronauts themselves, causing allergies (by the way, it also smells of burnt powder).
3. You have the opportunity to buy a plot on the moon
In 1979, the UN adopted a document on the international legal status of the moon. It says that the moon cannot belong to any country, and that any military actions are prohibited there. But the entrepreneurial American Dennis Hope noted that this agreement does not say anywhere that the moon or other space objects can not be owned by private individuals. He created The Lunar Embassy (Lunar Embassy) and began selling plots on the Moon for $ 20 per acre (approximately 0.4 ha). Moreover, Hope “appropriated” to himself also Mars, Venus, Mercury, the satellite of Jupiter Io, etc. The most interesting thing is that, despite the fact that the certificates on the acquisition of plots at different ends of the solar system are not valid according to the laws of any state on Earth, Hope’s business thrives and brings him billions.
2. On the moon there is a small monument to the fallen astronauts
When Apollo 15 "landed" on the earth's satellite in 1971, its commander David Scott installed a small sculpture, The Fallen Cosmonaut, about 9 cm high (created by the Belgian Paul van Heidonk) in the lunar region of Hadley Apennines. This figure is an aluminum man lying on his back in a spacesuit. Next to it is a tablet with the names and surnames of 6 Soviet cosmonauts who died at that time (including the name of Gagarin) and 8 American astronauts.
In addition, one earthling was actually buried on the moon - astronomer and geologist Eugene Shoemaker. He really wanted to fly into space, tried to get into the squad of American astronauts, but because of his health he was not accepted. Then he bequeathed to NASA to dispel his ashes above the surface of the moon after death. In 1998, his request was granted - the Lunar Prospector station delivered the capsule with Shoemaker’s ashes to the earth’s satellite.
1. The film "Avatar" may partially come true
The exploration of the moon, of course, is a very complex and expensive process. Everything is greatly complicated by the fact that people cannot stay on its surface for a long time, even in spacesuits. Why? Reread many of the previous paragraphs. “Or maybe it’s easier to use robots to work on the moon?” - thought scientists from NASA, - "But such robots that will be controlled by people from the Earth." So in 2010, the Avatars project arose. It was assumed that robots-avatars (using special high-tech suits of remote presence) could be controlled by scientists of different specialties in turn - astronomers, physicists, geologists, etc. And all this NASA was going to implement in just 1000 days (that is, as early as 2014). Alas, nothing more is heard about the “avatars” so far.