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The Moon is believed to be 4.6 billion years old, which is the same age
as the Earth. The Moon has no atmosphere or water.
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The Moon is comprised of a rocky material that is heavily scarred with
craters from meteorite impacts. The moon is composed of a core,
partially molten mantle, and a crust.
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The surface of the Moon is covered with craters, basins, and cratered
highlands, called terrae. The soil that covers the Moon is called
regolith, and is composed of rock fragments and fine dust grains. The
maria are lowland plains that were once craters that were later flooded
by lava. From Earth the terrae appear bright and the maria are dark.
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The Moon keeps one side permanently turned towards Earth.
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The gravitational forces between the Earth and the Moon effect the
level of the ocean tides, causing the Earth to have two high tides per
day.
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The Moon has been visited by several spacecrafts since 1959. The first
Moon landing was made by Apollo 11, on July 20, 1969. Neil Armstrong
and Buzz Aldrin were the first human beings to walk on an
extraterrestrial body. The Moon is the only extraterrestrial body that
has ever been visited by humans and is also the only body from which
samples were brought to Earth.
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