Yes! Well, with a lot of help. NASA has plans to establish a lunar base within the next 20 years that would allow astronauts to live on the Moon for up to 2 months.

Scientists believe the Moon used to be part of the Earth! According to the leading theory, when the Earth was first forming, another small early planet the size of Mars smashed into it, combining with it and blasting debris into orbit. That debris collected together over time due to gravity and eventually formed the Moon!

Yes! Astronomers have discovered ice on the North and South poles of the Moon, inside cold, permanently shadowed craters.

No life has yet been discovered on the Moon, and astronauts have checked! Scientists analyzed Moon rocks from the Apollo mission for lunar lifeforms, but didn’t find anything.

The Moon’s diameter is about ¼ Earth’s diameter. That means that if the Earth were the size of a bowling ball, the Moon would be about the size of a golf ball.

Sometimes it's a full Moon, sometimes it’s a half Moon, and sometimes it’s not there at all! What gives? Well, the Moon isn’t actually changing shape (we promise), but it is moving around the Earth. One side of the Moon is always facing the Sun, and one is facing away. When you look up at the sky, you can only see the side that’s lit up. So the amount of the lit-up side facing us changes as the Moon moves around the Earth. For example, when there’s a full Moon, the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun - so the entire lit-up side is facing us.

The movement of the Moon across the sky is mainly due to the rotation of the Earth. The Moon is also moving, but the Moon takes 27 days to get all the way around the Earth. Meanwhile, it takes the Earth just 12 hours to rotate halfway around. So the Moon’s movement across the sky is just like the Sun’s movement across the sky - mainly due to the rotation of the Earth.

Scientists estimate that the Moon is about 4.425 billion years old - only about 100 million years younger than the Earth.

There isn’t any weather on the Moon, because the Moon doesn’t have an atmosphere. In other words, there’s no air, so there's no wind to blow around. Because there’s no air, if you dropped a hammer and a feather at the same time on the Moon, they would fall at the same exact speed! Don’t believe it? An astronaut on the Apollo 15 mission tried it in 1971, so you can watch the video to see for yourself!

Yes! Scientists have successfully grown plants in samples of lunar dirt (called regolith) brought back from the Apollo missions. The plants grew slowly, but the fact that it’s possible at all is promising for establishing a lasting human presence on the Moon.