Q 01/05

Roughly how long does the Moon take to orbit Earth once?

A) About 1 day

B) About 7 days

C) About 27 days

D) About 365 days

Answer · why

C) About 27 days

About 27 days, 27.3 to be exact, is one lap measured against the stars; because Earth is moving around the Sun meanwhile, the phases take two days lon...

Q 02/05

What is the name of the first human to walk on the Moon?

A) Buzz Aldrin

B) Pete Conrad

C) Neil Armstrong

D) John Glenn

Answer · why

C) Neil Armstrong

Neil Armstrong stepped out about 19 minutes ahead of Buzz Aldrin, and their lander carried scraps of wood and fabric from the Wright brothers' 1903 Fl...

Q 03/05

What causes the phases of the Moon?

A) The Moon's changing distance from Earth

B) The Moon's own glow fading and returning

C) Earth's tilt changing with the seasons

D) How much of the sunlit half faces Earth

Answer · why

D) How much of the sunlit half faces Earth

How much of the sunlit half faces Earth changes as the Moon circles us; half of it is always lit, which is why a full Moon, opposite the Sun, always r...

Q 04/05

What is the average distance from the Earth to the Moon, whose orbit is slightly elliptical?

A) 24,900 miles

B) 93,000 miles

C) 238,900 miles

D) 865,000 miles

Answer · why

C) 238,900 miles

238,900 miles (384,400 km) is only the average: the oval orbit brings the Moon about 26,000 miles closer at its nearest than at its farthest, which is...

Q 05/05

The Moon's largest dark plain, where Apollo 12 landed, is known as the Ocean of what?

A) Storms

B) Clouds

C) Crises

D) Serenity

Answer · why

A) Storms

Storms: Oceanus Procellarum, the Ocean of Storms, is the only lunar plain large enough to be called an ocean, and Apollo 12 set down on it within walk...