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The time interval between a full moon and the next repetition of the same phase, a synodic month, averages about 29.53 days. Therefore, in those lunar calendars in which each month begins on the day of the new moon, the full moon falls on either the 14th or 15th day of the lunar month.
Exploration of the Moon. The physical exploration of the Moon began when Luna 2, a space probe launched by the Soviet Union, made a deliberate impact on the surface of the Moon on September 14, 1959. Prior to that the only available means of exploration had been observation from Earth.
Six missions landed humans on the Moon, beginning with Apollo 11 in July 1969, during which Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on the Moon. Apollo 13 was intended to land; however, it was restricted to a flyby due to a malfunction aboard the spacecraft.
The US wins the race for the Moon as Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin step onto the lunar surface on July 20. Apollo 11 is followed by five further landing missions, three carrying a sophisticated Lunar Roving Vehicle .
The lunar geological timescale (or selenological timescale) divides the history of Earth's Moon into five generally recognized periods: the Copernican, Eratosthenian, Imbrian (Late and Early epochs), Nectarian, and Pre-Nectarian.
Seven planets were placed in orbit around it in an order of increasing distance from the Earth, as established by the Greek Stoics: the Moon, Mercury, Venus, the Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn. This list included two objects, the Sun and the Moon, which are now not generally considered planets.
This is a timeline of space exploration which includes notable achievements, first accomplishments and milestones in humanity's exploration of outer space. This timeline generally does not distinguish achievements by a specific country or private company, as it considers humanity as a whole.
Origin of the Moon. The Moon's heavily cratered far-side. The origin of the Moon is usually explained by a Mars-sized body striking the Earth, creating a debris ring that eventually collected into a single natural satellite, the Moon, but there are a number of variations on this giant-impact hypothesis, as well as alternative explanations, and ...
1966 – Luna 9 Moon lander provides the first images from the surface of another celestial body. 1967 – Venera 4 provides the first information on Venus's dense atmosphere. 1968 – Apollo 8 becomes the first crewed lunar mission, providing historic images of the whole Earth.
The full moon is highest in the sky during winter and lowest during summer (for each hemisphere respectively), with its altitude changing towards dark moon to the opposite. At the North and South Poles the Moon is 24 hours above the horizon for two weeks every tropical month (about 27.3 days), comparable to the polar day of the tropical year .