The Moon

2 min read

Facts

  • [*] Radius of moon is 1,738 km
  • [*] It is just over a quarter of earth
  • [*] The last time anyone stepped foot on the moon was on 1972
  • [*] The surface gravity on the moon is one - sixth of our weight on earth
  • [*] The height of the highest mountain on the moon is 5000 m, which taller than the earth's mount blanc.
  • [*] There is 30% increase in brightness when the moon is closest to the earth
  • [*] The moon has no atmosphere
  • [*] There are 708 hours in a lunar day, from sunrise to next sunrise.

January 2026

NASA Artemis II mission

  • First crew admission of NASA's Artemis program.

First time since 1972

  • First time humans traveled to the vicinity of the moon since 1972.
  • Rather than landing on the Moon, they will fly in a hybrid free return trajectory.
  • The spacecraft will orbit the Earth twice to check life support and manual handling capabilities.
  • Then it will travel around 10,300 km beyond the far side of the moon after which gravity will pull the spacecraft back to the Earth for a splashdown in the Pacific ocean.
  • It will be a 10-day flight.
  • Earliest targeted launch date is February 6, 2026, but launch windows are across February, March, and April 2026.
  • Launch pad 39B at the Kennedy Space Center.

It will be a 4 member crew:

  1. Commander Reid Weisman (NASA)
  2. Pilot Victor Glover (NASA)
  3. Mission Specialists
    1. Christina Koch (NASA)
    2. Jeremy Hansen (Canadian Space Agency)

Artemis III

  • Artemis 3 aims to land astronauts on the lunar South Pole.
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