Our Nearest Neighbor

The Moon is Earth’s closest companion. It is about 239,000 miles (384,000 kilometers) away from Earth. The diameter of the moon is about 2,160 miles (3,476 kilometers). You can see

it in the sky on most nights. Sometimes it is so bright that it lights up the night. The Moon does not make its own light. The sun shines on the Moon. We see the sunlight as it reflects back to us.

No one is completely sure how the Moon was formed.

However, many scientists agree on one idea. They believe that

long ago, the Earth hit another planet and a chunk of Earth broke

off. That chunk is now the Moon.

The moon actually affects many events on Earth. The Moon is very heavy. This heavy mass of rock has gravity, a force that pulls things toward its center.

Earth has gravity, too. Earth’s gravity keeps your feet on the ground. It pulls you back to the ground when you jump. The Moon’s gravity is much less than Earth’s. "You could jump much higher if you were on the Moon. But even though the Moon’s gravity is not as strong as Earth’s, it is strong enough to do other things.

The Moon’s gravity pulls on the earth. It is not strong enough to pull the earth toward it, but it is strong enough to pull the water in the oceans. That is why we have tides. As the Moon pulls on the water, oceans rise and fall. Tides are easy to see if you stand on a beach. When the tide rises, the water comes closer into shore. When it falls, the water flows away from the shore.

Several countries continue to explore the Moon-including

India, China, Japan, and the United States.As we further develop

our knowledge, we plan to haveAmericans return to the Moon by

the year 2020. In the future, scientists hope to send humans to

other planets like Mars. The Moon could be an ideal place to

launch other missions. The Moon could help us learn more about

space and other planets than we have even known before.