MOON STATISTICS

The Moon / Luna - Luna is the Roman goddess of the Moon

NAME IN FOREIGN LANGUAGES

Lune (Fr), Luna (Spanish, Italian, Latin), Mond (Ger), Lua (Portuguese), Selene (Greek) 

AVERAGE DISTANCE FROM EARTH

384,400 km / 238,855 miles / 0.0025 A.U. - Comparison with Earth's distance from the Sun: 149,597,890 km / 92,955,820 miles / 1.000 A.U.

CLOSEST DISTANCE TO EARTH (PERIHELION)

363,300 km / 225,700 miles / 0.0024 A.U. - Comparison with Earth's distance from the Sun: 147,100,000 km / 91,400,000 miles / 0.983 A.U.

FARTHEST DISTANCE FROM EARTH (APOGEE)

405,500 km / 252,000 miles / 0.0027 A.U. - Comparison with Earth's distance from the Sun: 152,100,000 km / 94,500,000 miles / 1.017 A.U.

DIAMETER ACROSS EQUATOR

3,476 km / 2,159 miles - Comparison with Earth: 12,756 km / 7,926 miles

CIRCUMFERENCE AROUND EQUATOR

10,916 km / 6,783 miles -- Comparison with Earth: 40,074 km / 24,901 miles

MASS

73,483,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg -- Comparison with Earth 5,973,700,000,000,000,000,000,000 kg

TIME TO SPIN ON AXIS

27 days, 8 hours (note that there is a new moon every 29.5 days) - Comparison with Earth: 23 hours, 56 minutes

TIME TO ORBIT EARTH 

27 days, 8 hours - Comparison with Earth's orbit of the Sun: 365 days, 6 hours

DISTANCE MOON TRAVELS TO COMPLETE ONE ORBIT OF EARTH

2,290,000 km / 1,423,000 miles - Comparison with Earth's orbit of the Sun: 924,375,700 km / 574,380,400 miles

GRAVITY (EARTH = 1)

0.166

ESCAPE VELOCITY

8,568 km/h / 5,324 mph - Comparison with Earth: 40,248 km/h / 25,009 mph

MINIMUM SURFACE TEMPERATURE

-233 °c / -387 °F / 40 K - Comparison with Earth: -88 °c / -126 °F / 185 K

MAXIMUM SURFACE TEMPERATURE

123 °c / 253 °F / 396 K - Comparison with Earth: 58 °c / 136 ° F / 331 K

WEATHER CONDITIONS

Lack of atmosphere on Moon means there is no "weather", although temperature ranges are extreme depending on whether it is Lunar day or night both of which last for 14 days.

CONTENTS OF ATMOSPHERE

None

PAST MISSIONS (including nationality and year of launch - failed missions are in red)

Pioneer 0/Thor-Able 1 (USA, 1958), Luna 1958A (USSR, 1958), Pioneer 1 (USA, 1958), Luna 1958B (USSR, 1958), Pioneer 2 (USA, 1958), Luna 1958C (USSR, 1958), Pioneer 3 (USA, 1958), Luna 1 (USSR, 1959), Pioneer 4 (USA, 1959), Luna 2 (USSR, 1959), Luna 3 (USSR, 1959), Pioneer P-3 (USA, 1959), Ranger 3 (USA, 1962), Ranger 4 (USA, 1962), Ranger 5 (USA, 1962), Luna 4 (USSR, 1963), Ranger 6 (USA, 1964), Ranger 7 (USA, 1964), Ranger 8 (USA, 1965), Ranger 9 (USA, 1965), Luna 5 (USSR, 1965), Luna 6 (USSR, 1965), Zond 3 (USSR, 1965), Luna 7 (USSR, 1965), Luna 8 (USSR, 1965), Luna 9 (USSR, 1966), Luna 10 (USSR, 1966), Surveyor 1 (USA, 1966), Lunar Orbiter 1 (USA, 1966), Luna 11 (USSR, 1966), Surveyor 2 (USA, 1966), Luna 12 (USSR, 1966), Lunar Orbiter 2 (USA, 1966), Luna 13 (USSR, 1966), Lunar Orbiter 3 (USA, 1967), Surveyor 3 (USA, 1967), Lunar Orbiter 4 (USA, 1967), Surveyor 4 (USA, 1967), Explorer 35 (USA, 1967), Lunar Orbiter 5 (USA, 1967), Surveyor 5 (USA, 1967), Surveyor 6 (USA, 1967), Surveyor 7 (USA, 1968), Luna 14 (USSR, 1968), Zond 5 (USSR, 1968), Zond 6 (USSR, 1968), Apollo 8 (USA, 1968), Apollo 10 (USA, 1969), Luna 15 (USSR, 1969), Apollo 11 (USA, 1969), Zond 7 (USSR, 1969), Apollo 12 (USA, 1969), Apollo 13 (USA, 1970), Luna 16 (USSR, 1970), Zond 8 (USSR, 1970), Luna 17 (USSR, 1970), Apollo 14 (USA, 1971), Apollo 15 (USA 1971), Luna 18 (USSR, 1971), Luna 19 (USSR, 1971), Luna 20 (USSR, 1972), Apollo 16 (USA, 1972), Apollo 17 (USA, 1972), Luna 21 (USSR, 1973), Luna 22 (USSR, 1974), Luna 23 (USSR, 1974), Luna 24 (USSR, 1976), Hiten/Muses-A (Japan, 1990), Clementine (USA, 1994), Lunar Prospector (USA, 1998), SMART 1 (Europe, 2003), Chang'e 1 (China, 2007)