Earth's only natural satellite, the fifth-largest moon in the solar system.
NASA
Our only natural satellite, and the only other world where humans have walked.
The full Moon, a mosaic from NASA's Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter. Credit: NASA
The Moon is thought to have formed from debris after a Mars-sized body struck the young Earth. It always shows the same face to Earth because its rotation is locked to its orbit.
Its gravity raises the tides on Earth. Twelve astronauts walked on its surface during the Apollo missions between 1969 and 1972.
