Moon

Apollo Missions

The Apollo program was a NASA mission to land humans on the Moon from 1969 to 1972. Six of the missions (Apollo 11, 12, 14, 16, and 17) were successful in landing astronauts on the Moon. There were also many unmanned Moon landings. The Apollo missions followed NASA's Mercury and Gemini missions.

Moonsaic

Aimed at pupils aged between 7-14 this activity involves arrange a large jigsaw of the Moon. The end result is a detailed image, which the pupils then use to study the Moon’s surface.

Moonsaic Slide Puzzle

Earth's Moon

The Moon at Last Quarter Phase
Credit: NSO

The Moon, also called Luna, is the Earth's only natural satellite, and the fifth largest satellite in the entire Solar System.

Solar Eclipse Animation

The animation below demonstrates a Total and Partial Solar eclipse. Notice how the sky gets darker as the Moon slowly passes across the face of the Sun, and that it gets much darker during a total eclipse than during a partial one.

Lunar Eclipse

Tides Demonstration

Click on each stage in turn

Show > Stage 1

The Moon's Gravitational pull varies across the Earth

Tides

Waves coming towards the shore.
Credit: Ron Porter @ Pixabay.com

The level of the sea rises and falls about twice every day. We call these changes tides.

Phases of the Moon

It takes the Moon around 27 days to orbit around the Earth, during this time we see the Moon go through a series of different shapes, known as the "phases" of the Moon. It takes around 29.5 days for the Moon to get back to exactly the same phase, this is a little longer than it takes it orbit the Earth, due to the fact that the Earth is also moving around the Sun at the same time.