Earths Moon
The Moon makes Earth a more livable planet by moderating our planet's wobble on its axis, which results in stabilizing our climate. Also, over the millennia it has been a timekeeper for us...Monday comes from "Moon-day", month on our calendars also finds its origin from our moon. The moon's gravitational pull on the Earth is the main cause of the rise and fall of ocean tides. The moon is the only other object in the solar system man has walked on besides the Earth. Was our drive, the USA, in the 1960's merely being defensive to have the technology to go to the moon so that Russia didn't have the upper hand? Why has it been 40+ years since setting foot on the moon for the first time that we have not pressed forward as fast and hard with Mars?
Ron Wayman of Tampa, Fla., captured this picture of Mars emerging from behind the Moon with an 8-inch telescope and a digital camera.
I have an argument that is very speculative, just theory. I wonder if our moon was once like Enceladus or Europa. I think that the discoveries of these moons indicates that water is indeed common in the cosmos. Perhaps the Earth may have been a large ice planet in its infancy (after it formed as hot molten rock)...maybe Mars too.
If our moon was indeed an ice moon perhaps it was the celestial object that delivered water to the Earth, or a certain amount of it. Could the ice have been created when planetary systems formed from their nebula womb? This could explain why we see water inside the planets, below their surfaces as well as on their surfaces.
Evidence of Water Beneath Moon’s Stony Face
Moon has water cycle, methane, ammonia, hydrogen gas, carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide
* Image source is NASA
* Image Credit/Copyright: Ron Wayman, Tampa, Fla. Credit: Science@NASA
** Apollo 11 Video Credit: NASA
Image from NASA APOD - Earth's Moon with Saturn Occultation
Some other Moons of our Solar System (click on to enlarge):
Jupiter Occultation
Feel like taking a trip to the moon? Here is some of the Apollo 11 mission footage
The inspirational speech from President Kennedy during the 1960s at the time of the space race to the moon...these words embody the spirit of human achievement and space exploration. "We do these things not because they are easy, but because they are hard" - John F. Kennedy, Rice University, Sept. 12, 1962