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I am very curious about the moon. It amazes me that our moon takes so many hits and blasts from meteoroids and asteroids, but Earth is somewhat shielded and safe. Is there something in the moon (illuminated rocks/magnetic field?) that attracts these flying objects to itself, which in turn protects Earth? Is the moon a naturall guard against space debris for this planet? I understand that Jupiter protects us to some degree.
What is the purpose of the Moon?
What is the purpose of the Moon?
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Canada
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Thu, October 1, 2009 - 9:24 PMThere is no "purpose" to it, per se. However, we get a bonus from having the Moon hanging around - it stabilizes our planet and keeps it in a, (somewhat), straight axis, (I significantly stress, SOMEwhat).
Without moon, our planet would be flipping up and down in random tumbling. We would have no seasons, (in the general way of understanding of it), and so on and so forth.
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Thu, October 1, 2009 - 9:39 PMIt also has its huge effect on the oceans and tide -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Thu, October 1, 2009 - 9:58 PMWell yes, among other things, indeed; but since she asked it from the beneficial to our planet point of view, I'd mentioned it in that regard.
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 11:24 AM>"among other things"<
life: several animals depend on the moon. Some plants depend on the moon. Stabilizing the planet to give us seasons: winter, spring, summer and fall. Thus it affects every ecosystem on the planet. In fact it has been theorized that life on Earth would not have taken root without a large single moon. -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 8:10 PMSo true...... I wonder what impact it will have on us when Nasa bombs the moon on October 9th looking for water? -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 8:11 PMnone? i mean, people will freak out, but any real impact? no.
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 8:13 PM -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 9:02 PMLana, the moon has been hit by numerous objects from NASA's Ranger probe to similar efforts by the former USSR since the 1960's
Over tiime nature has hit the moon with rocks coming in at much higher speeds. The LCROSS impact speed is modest compared to natural impacts. -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Sat, October 3, 2009 - 7:25 AMHmmm..... interesting. True.
The LCROSS impact speed may be less than the speed of Natural impacts, but the detonation is intentional & unatural. It will undoubtedly create waves of force displacing several miles of lunar material. Since there is no atmosphere, this could be far more destructive than we realize, no? Or, have they bombed the moon in the same way they are proposing to in Ocotber, before? Is that what you are saying? The Russians too? What were the "objects" they hit the moon with? -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Sat, October 3, 2009 - 11:26 AMLCROSS impactor is just an empty second stage of the rocket called centaur. Its just a hollow shell, now. The purpose is to go deep like a dart and get ejecta so we can figure out what is below the surface. The moon, as said before, has been hit by so many things. It also has been hit by ESA, Russian, ISRA, and NASA spacecraft before.
People have played the LCROSS event up. The call has been put out by NASA for amateur astronomers to view the event.
There is no detonation! Its just a kinetic hit. -
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This is the maximum depth. Additional responses will not be threaded.
Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Thu, October 8, 2009 - 8:56 PM
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 1:40 PMIt was likely formed in a massive impact event early in the Earth formation, that blasted enough material beyond the roche limit to coalesce into the body we now today . Given all the benefits of it being there for life on this planet (as the after mentioned stable axis for example) -- it is a reasonable guess that any body we need to look for advanced life will likely have a similar body or bodies in orbit around them?
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Thu, October 1, 2009 - 9:58 PMBecause the Moon's apparent size from our point of view coincidentally matches the apparent size of the sun, lucky Earthlings get to see, with naked eyes, the sun's corona during total solar eclipses.
imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/sc...ona.html -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Thu, October 1, 2009 - 10:39 PMYep,
Only it won't last forever - the Moon slowly moves away from us, by about 2-3 cm per century, or so. So, some day, the lucky humans won't be lucky in this regard anymore - the Moon will move too far away to let us enjoy the view...
Truly, "Life is like a box of chocolates, you never know what you are gonna get..." ... but, ... wait!!! - EVERY TIME IT'S A CANDY-Y-Y-Y-Y-Y!!!
By then, if we do not destroy ourselves, we will be able to fly into outer space just like today going to grab a snack; and will be able to enjoy the view from our own, private, say, flying blob, 24/7, or until we get bored, just by flying closer enough to it, and setting on the moono-synchronos orbit.
Take that Cambridge scholars...
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Thu, October 1, 2009 - 10:09 PMThe very sight of how nastily the Moon has been bombarded has inspired folks to more seriously consider our own fragility in the shooting gallery of space. Thus, there are greater motivations to track and perhaps even someday defend against asteroids.
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 6:22 AM -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 8:41 PMNote: The Earth gets hit by just as much stuff as the moon. The damage just lasts longer on the moon because there is no atmosphere. -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Fri, October 2, 2009 - 8:53 PMAhhh..... I see. True. I suspect that because of the moons lack of atmosphere (mesosphere), meteorites would not be able to turn into harmless fireballs of light..... but, still, don't you think that the moon has been hit far more than Earth? -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Sat, October 3, 2009 - 7:20 AMCurry's got it right.
The entire Earth would look like the Moon if we didn't have relentless "erasers" including weather & vulcanism.
Here are some impact sites that haven't quite gotten wiped off our "chalkboard" yet...
geology.com/meteor-impact-craters.shtml
The best preserved craters are younger ones in drier environments.
Hey Lana... thanks for sharing that catchy, inspirational Carl Sagan video :-] -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Sat, October 3, 2009 - 7:29 AMThanks for the link. And hey Tom, you're welcome.
:-) -
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Sat, October 3, 2009 - 7:43 AMImpacts on moon: www.spaceref.com/news/viewpr.html
"Clues to how often and how hard the Moon is hit lie in data from four seismometers placed on the Moon by the Apollo 12, 14, 15, and 16 missions during 1969-72. They operated until NASA turned them off in 1977. For years, the seismometers recorded all manner of tremors and jolts, including almost 3000 moonquakes, 1700 meteoroid strikes, and 9 spacecraft deliberately crashed into the Moon. All these data were transmtted to Earth for analysis. "
nssdc.gsfc.nasa.gov/planetar...nger.html
"Ranger 9 impacted in a large crater in the lunar highlands. Below is the first image of the Moon taken by Ranger 7, about 17 minutes before impact. "
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Re: The Purpose of the Moon?
Sat, October 3, 2009 - 8:01 AM
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