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The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite, orbiting at an average distance of 384 399 km (238,854 mi; about 30 times Earth's diameter). It faces Earth always with the same side . This is a result of Earth's gravitational pull having synchronized the Moon's rotation period ( lunar day ) with its orbital period ( lunar month ) of 29.5 Earth days.
The first known natural satellite was the Moon, but it was considered a "planet" until Copernicus' introduction of De revolutionibus orbium coelestium in 1543. Until the discovery of the Galilean satellites in 1610 there was no opportunity for referring to such objects as a class.
Triton is large enough to have achieved hydrostatic equilibrium, but, uniquely for a large moon, has a retrograde orbit, suggesting it was a dwarf planet that was captured. Neptune also has seven known inner regular satellites, and eight outer irregular satellites.
A dishwasher-sized NASA satellite was launched into space from Florida on Wednesday to identify where water - a precious resource for lunar missions - resides on the moon's surface in places such ...
The space industry is in its Moon era, with dozens of robotic missions planned to our only natural satellite in the coming years – two happening this week. ... which sends U.S. space agency ...
On 20 July 1969 Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, and Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. At the same time another mission, the robotic sample return mission Luna 15 by the Soviet Union, was in orbit around the Moon, becoming together with Apollo 11 the first ever case of two extraterrestrial missions being conducted at the ...
The small satellite will orbit about 60 miles above the lunar surface, providing the best-yet maps of water on the moon. NASA's Lunar Trailblazer is one of three spacecraft sharing a ride to space ...
The Moon can be described as all of the following: Natural satellite – celestial body that orbits another celestial body of greater mass (e.g. a planet, star, or dwarf planet), called its primary. [1] [2] For example, the Moon is a natural satellite of Earth, and Earth is a natural satellite of the Sun.