By the Numbers: The moon

And now a closer look at the Moon … by the numbers:

Our Moon is the fifth largest moon in the solar system.  [Jupiter's Ganymede is #1, followed by Saturn's Titan and Jupiter's Callisto and Io.]

If the Earth were the size of a nickel, the Moon would be the size of a coffee bean.

The Moon's surface area totals some 14.6 million square miles, about two and-a-half million square miles less than the total area of Asia (17.2 million sq. mi.).

THIRTY Earth-sized planets could fit between the Earth and the Moon.

The Moon orbits the Earth at an average speed of roughly 2,300 miles an hour.

And as it orbits, our Moon drifts about one inch farther from the Earth every year.

       
For more info: 

• The moon (nasa.gov)

       
Story produced by Derrell Bouknight.