9/11 and 9/12 Description of the Moon - by Marc Bacharach - purple class

              You see it at night and sometimes in the daytime. It lights up the sky when it's full and can become a tiny sliver of light. It is the bright object in the sky that has fascinated humans for centuries. We all know it as the Moon. What are the differences between the Moon and the Earth? How the fascination of the moon turned into exploration.

              The Moon and the Earth are separated by about 384,400 km of space. Even though they are separated by a very short distance (relatively speaking), they are completely different in many ways. The moon is 1/4 the size of the Earth and made up of layers and layers of rock and hot magma in the center. It's surface has many different terrains including mountains, craters, and plateaus. Many craters on the moon were caused by meteors and comets hitting the Moon. Unlike the Earth, the Moon has no atmosphere. On Earth we have clouds and a sky. If you were to stand on the Moon and look up you would see endless space. 70% of the Earth's surface is made up of water, because of the water and oxygen there is diverse life on planet Earth. The Moon is the complete opposite. It's surface is very dry. There is no water, nor any life on the Moon. On Earth we have a perfect amount of gravity, that makes it easier to move around but does not make the pull from the Earth's core feel uncomfortable. The Moon's gravity is 83.3% less than the Earth's. For example, a 200 pound man would weigh about 33 pounds on it's surface. There is no sound in space nor is there any sound on the Moon. On Earth we can hear a variety of sounds.

This is a picture of the near side of the Moon.

       
            The Moon had always been studied but never explored and visited until Apollo 11. Before the US sent a man to the moon they did many test missions. On July 20th, 1969 Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins landed on the Moon. It was momentous day for the Americans to beat the Russians in having a man walk on the Moon first. Since then, the Moon has been explored by many astronauts from many countries. The Moon was mainly explored in the 1970's by America and Russia. In later years they had more efficient ways of collecting data. They would land on the Moon and use Rovers to explore. Astronauts could collect Moon rock samples much quicker. Eventually countries developed ways to send unmanned rovers to the Moon for exploration.

Here is a picture of the flag that was placed on the Moon by the Apollo 11 astronauts.

             In class activities and in homework, I learned more about the Moon and the exploration of it. For homework we had to watch a couple of videos about the Moon and Apollo 11. There was one video in particular that really helped me understand what the Moon is like. It was a Youtube video called "A Tour of the Moon". It showed the different craters and sections of the Moon in a way that was easy to understand. The diary of Neil Armstrong was also very helpful because it explained his experience of landing on the Moon. It gave me a better understanding of the Moon and the importance of Apollo 11.

Writing this Blog helped me understand the Moon and the journey it took to get there.