JULY/AUGUST 2019 JULY/AUGUST 2019 .. DISCOVER DISCOVER 63 63
The Lost Apollo Rocks
In the 1970s, the Nixon administration gave out plaques
containing lunar samples from Apollo 11 and 17 to all 50
states and 135 other nations. Some kept good track of
these gifts. Many did not. Governors and world leaders
often accidentally misplaced the samples when they
left office; many have been recovered from their private
collections later. The hunt for the remaining samples
is ongoing.
Apollo 11 Turns 50
The Apollo program is celebrating its golden anniversary
this year. It brought back hundreds of pounds of rock
and soil samples from the moon, and left behind
thermometers and seismic sensors. Even today, scientists
bounce lasers off mirrors that astronauts left behind
on the lunar surface, precisely measuring the moon’s
distance and slow outward creep. NASA remains the only
organization to have sent humans to the moon’s surface.
That Time We Thought About Nuking the Moon
Most people agree that the United States won the space race against the Soviet
Union when the Apollo astronauts landed on the moon in 1969. But America was
running behind for most of the contest, and things almost ended very differently.
In 1959, the Air Force presented a plan mildly titled “A Study of Lunar Research
Flights” that suggested launching a nuclear weapon into the moon — not for
science, but simply as a show of strength. For the sake of both humanity and the
moon, the government didn’t pursue the plan.
SUPERMOON
BLUE MOON
BLOOD MOON
SOLAR ECLIPSE
A Sample of Specialty Moons
When the media start talking about the “super
blood moon,” people often get confused. But
it’s not all sensationalism — these terms tell
us something about the moon’s current state.
Supermoon: A full moon when it’s physically
closest to Earth, making it appear 14 percent
bigger than when it’s at its smallest and
farthest. Despite the hype, though, human
eyes can’t actually tell the difference.
Blue moon: Originally, this was the third full
moon in a season that has four full moons.
(Three is normal.) Within the past century, it
has shifted to mean the second full moon in
one calendar month. Both are rare.
Blood moon: The part of a total lunar eclipse
when the moon enters Earth’s shadow. A
partially eclipsed moon simply looks dark,
like something has taken a bite out of it. But
during totality, all of Earth’s sunsets and
sunrises trickle through our atmosphere to
tinge the moon’s shadowed surface.
Solar eclipse: This term doesn’t include the
word moon, but it’s when our satellite aligns
between Earth and the sun at just the right
angle to cast a shadow on Earth’s surface.
Like lunar eclipses, this phenomenon is
possible only because the sun and moon
appear the same size in Earth’s sky; if the
moon were closer (as it once was) or farther
(as it will be), no eclipses could occur.
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