Is there a ‘dark side’ of moon?
7 common myths about our nearest neighbor
In honor of the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, let’s take a moment to talk about our dear old moon.
Most people think they know pretty much everything about Earth’s closest neighbor. But there’s still a lot to learn about the moon, and some “facts” people like to toss around are, well, wrong.
Here are a few common myths about the moon:
1. The moon has a ‘dark side’
Sorry, Pink Floyd. The side of the moon we can’t see has daytime, too. It’s more accurate to think of it as the “far side” of the moon.
The moon is tidally locked with the Earth, meaning it revolves around us and its own axis at the same rate. Because of this, we only ever get to see one side of the moon.
In fact, no person had ever glimpsed the moon’s far side until 1959 when the Soviet spacecraft Luna 3 snapped the very first photo.
2. The moon causes lunacy
Ever hear “crazy things happen because it’s a full moon?”
It has been said that, because the moon influences the ocean tides on Earth, it can also raise and lower emotional “tides” in human beings. That, according to this myth, makes folks behave strangely, and is the reason for the recorded uptick in crime on fullmoon nights.
As fun as it is to think we’re all part werewolf, the reality is the full moon just provides more light for criminal activity.
3. A blue moon is blue in color
While certain atmospheric and cosmic occurrences can make the moon appear to change color, the phrase “blue moon” refers to a second full moon in one calendar month.
Since the lunar cycle is 28 days and
calendar months range from 28-31 days, this happens rarely. Hence the phrase “once in a blue moon.”
4. The moon has no gravity
While the moon’s gravity is only one-sixth that of Earth, it’s still there. Everything that has mass has some amount of gravity.
Footage of Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin bounding around on the lunar surface while wearing heavy spacesuits makes it clear things weigh a lot less on the moon.
But still, the astronauts did come back down after they went up … something that wouldn’t happen if there was no gravity on the moon.
5. The moon has no atmosphere
It’s also widely thought the moon has no atmosphere, or “no air,” but that’s been found to be another myth. While the moon’s atmosphere is considerably thinner than Earth’s and not breathable by Earthlings, it does have one.
Studies have found the moon’s atmosphere contains about one million particles per square centimeter.
It also contains some unusual elements not found in Earth’s atmosphere, like sodium and potassium.
Compared to the 10,000,000,000,000,000,000 particles (yes, all those zeroes are correct!) found in the same volume of Earth air, one could say the moon’s atmosphere is pretty thin. But still, it’s there.
6. The moon is a perfect sphere
You might be surprised to learn the moon is not perfectly round, but rather a little bit lemon-shaped. When the moon first formed, it was made of molten rock. Outside gravitational forces and areas of uneven density in the moon’s core as it cooled caused the satellite to take on a slightly irregular shape, called an oblate spheroid.
The moons of other planets in our solar system have been observed to have the same not-quite-round shape, like Jupiter’s icy moon Europa.
7. The Apollo 11 moon landing was faked
This popular conspiracy theory states the moon landing never happened at all. Theorists believe the whole thing was filmed in a studio, possibly by famed movie director Stanley Kubrick, to one-up the Soviets.
It’s no secret the United States had contingency plans in case something went wrong with the moon landing, even going so far as to have President Richard Nixon’s speechwriter whip up a statement in case the mission failed. Another popular theory posits a fake moon landing was, indeed, filmed in some Hollywood basement, but it was never used because Apollo 11 succeeded.
In reality, there is visible evidence of human activity on the moon. The Lunar Laser Ranging experiment, left on the surface by Apollo 11 astronauts, has been continuously reflecting laser rays beamed from earthbound observatories for 50 years. Additionally, NASA’s Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter has photographed all six Apollo landing sites, including the remains of the descent modules.
If that’s not enough, moon missions have returned hundreds of pounds of lunar rock and soil samples. When twotime NBA MVP Steph Curry expressed doubts about the moon landings in a December 2018 interview, NASA publicly invited him to peruse their collection of moon rocks in the lunar lab at Johnson Space Center.