Keep it Simple!

An image of the moon taken by Apollo 10 astronauts. Image courtesy of NASA.

For those of you that are having a little trouble following all of the big words and how complicated I might be, this post is for you!!

The Earth's one natural satellite, ME, is more than one quarter the size of Earth itself (3,474 km diameter). Because of its smaller size, my gravity is one-sixth of the Earth's gravity!

While there are only two basic types of regions on my surface, there are many interesting surface features such as craters, mountain ranges, and lava plains.

The structure of my interior is more difficult to study. The Moon's top layer is a rocky solid, perhaps 800 km thick. Beneath this layer is a partially molten zone. Although it is not know for sure I may have a small iron core, even though I have no magnetic field.

By studying my surface and interior, geologists can learn about my history an formation.

The footprints left by Apollo astronauts will last for centuries because there is no wind on me!

The Moon does not possess any atmosphere, so there is no weather as we are used to on Earth. Because there is no atmosphere to trap heat, the temperatures here are extreme, ranging from 100° C at noon to -173° C at night!!

I do not produce its own light, but I look bright because I reflect light from the Sun. Think of the beautiful Sun as a light bulb, and me as a mirror, reflecting light from the light bulb. My 'lunar' phase changes as I orbit the Earth and different portions of its surface are illuminated by the Sun.

Hope this helps!

Welcome

To start off, I thought I should introduce myself. Although many of you have seen me every night you might not know that much about me...
So let me begin,

I am The Moon (Latin: Luna).

I am the Earth's only natural satellite and the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System. I live about 384,403 km away from you, on Earth! I make a complete orbit around the Earth every 27.3 days, this is called my "orbital period". The periodic variations in the geometry of the Earth–Moon– and the Sun system are responsible for the 'lunar phases' that repeat every 29.5 days.

I am much smaller then your planet, Earth. I am about a quarter of the Earth's diameter which is 3,474 kms. Therefore my surface area is less then 1/10th of the Earth!
I am the only celestial body to which humans, like you have traveled and upon which humans have performed a manned landing. The first artificial object to pass near me was the 'Soviet Union's Luna 1, the first artificial object to impact my surface was Luna 2 and the first photographs of the "far side of me" ("the far side of the Moon") were made by Luna 3 all in 1959!

The first space craft to perform a successful landing on my was Luna 9, and the first unmanned vehicle to orbit the Moon was Luna 10, both in 1966!
The Unite States Apollo program achieved the only manned mission to date, resulting in six landings and visit to me between 1969 and 1972
Human explorate of me ceased with the conclusion of the Apollo program, although a few robotic landers and orbiters have been sent to visit me since then. I liked it more when humans visited me!
I have heard talk that several countries have announced plans to return humans to the surface of the Moon in the 2020's. I can't wait!