The Moon & Beyond

I've been meaning to start a note about the moon for at least a week now, but finally had the thought re-fueled after watching some episodes of Expedition Week on NatGeo about the Moon and Mars (Opportunity and Spirit rovers, and Direct from the Moon). Wow!

I had been pondering upon how some people seem to adore the moon, yet think little of its origin/source, or the reality of it. It's a planet. In outer space. You can't help but think about it in a new way when you really take that into consideration, can you? You should. Does the moon hold the secrets to life on earth? Scientists seem to think so.

"The prevailing hypothesis today" on the moon's origin/formation:
So basically, a rogue (rock? planet? "Theia") came crashing into the Earth's atmosphere long, long ago and they collided and ignited. The Giant Impact collision ignited the earth and released firey debris into the atmosphere. Some of it became the moon. The earth's gravitational pull kept the mass in orbit.

The two planets affect each other, and neither would be able to exist the same without the other. The earth's gravity keeps the moon in orbit. The moon keeps our planet's atmosphere stable. "Most of the tidal effects seen on the Earth are caused by the Moon's gravitational pull. [2] Earth's ocean tides are initiated by the tidal force of Moon's gravity." The gravitational tidal force comes from the attraction and rotation of the planets, and causes ocean water to continuously rush towars the pull. This gravitational pull between the Moon and the oceans affects its orbit. And, this pull is what caused the moon to look so different on the one side that always faces the earth. The very gravitational pull itself caused certain metals to surface.

So, you can see how the two require each other to co-exist as we know them, both in the past, present, and future.

------------

the Late Heavy Bombardment was also fascinating....