Wow Factor

Space Station & Moon

Figure 1.17 – Astronaut Buzz Aldrin stands on the Moon, with Neil Armstrong reflected in his visor. Armstrong and Aldrin were the first two people to visit another world. They did so for the Apollo 11 mission, which landed on the Moon on July 20, 1969.
Hundreds of astronauts have visited the International Space Station, but only 12 people have ever been to the Moon (they went with the Apollo program, which landed 6 missions on the Moon between 1969 and 1972). Is it really that much more difficult to get to the Moon?

One way to think about it is by comparing their distances. You have already seen the Earth-Moon system to scale using our Styrofoam balls. The Space Station orbits Earth at an altitude of about 350 kilometers — which is less than 3% of Earth’s diameter. If you calculate it, you’ll find that on our Styrofoam ball scale, this would place the Space Station only about 2 millimeters above the ball representing Earth! Put a different way, this means that the Moon is about 1,000 times as far from Earth as the Space Station.

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