The Ying to Our Yang

Earth’s closest neighbor in what seems like an infinite universe is also one that makes life on this beautiful planet possible each and every day. The moon is thought to have been the aftermath of the process that created the earth itself and although we cannot fully know for sure; the moon is without a doubt the earth’s guidance through darkness. It has been that way ever since the birth of humanity and it will continue to be that way until the end of it – without the moon, ancient humans would have struggled to survive in the dark and the concept of time would be different from what it is today. In other words, the moon contributed to history in more ways than one and in more significant ways than the general population realizes.

Scientifically and generally speaking, the moon is about 27% the size of the earth – its’ diameter is about 2,160 miles and the surface area is 14,658,000 square miles. In contrast, the biggest country in the world at this moment is Russia – which a government site lists at 6,592,735 squared miles. That means that the moon’s physical surface is more than twice as big as the world’s biggest country but the fact that we, as a species, have only ever seen one side of it, is mindboggling. Its’ permanent dark side is hundreds of degrees colder than the side that we see every night and unseeable without modern technology.

The accepted hypothesis of the creation of our planet is intertwined with the satellite we refer to as the moon. About 4.5 Billions years ago, two planets that were thought to be anywhere from the earth to mars’ sizes crashed into each other and thus created one mega planet – which is where we are standing at this very moment. The leftover debris of this cosmic collision and the universal law of gravity caused a significantly smaller body of matter to form over thousands, if not millions of years – that is what we now to refer to as the moon.

Although the reason attributed to why the moon does not rotate like the earth is because of its’ magnetic poles and the weight of them as compared to the rest of it may not be the only reason for why our neighbor never shows us her other side – the universal law of gravity that caused its’ formation is also what keeps us from seeing the other side. That law that caused the planets to collide, the new one to form with a beautiful satellite by its’ side also allows life on earth to be what it is today. That gravitational force may attribute to the earth’s pull on the moon and its’ eternal (rotational) dance with our planet.

Ironically, the same law that makes these two bodies of mass, life and our reality possible can one day be the reason for its’ end. The moon is an estimated 238,900 miles above the earth but it is a gap that is widening by an average of an inch and a half per year. This means that the moon was many miles closer and thus seemed a lot bigger in the times of the dinosaurs living on earth. The gravitational pull from other huge bodies in the solar system (like the Sun, Jupiter and Saturn) are slowly and invisibly taking this lunar beauty from our earth. This would cause a slow but major disruption in the earth’s rotation, climate and ecosystems; however, that is something that we, our children, grandchildren and their kids will not have to worry about at all (they may have to worry about weather change but for other reasons – but that’s a whole other issue onto itself).

Without the moon and its’ gravity, the earth would have span out of control billions of years ago and caused life on the planet to be impossible. There would never have been seasons near the poles because our perfect 23.5 degree angle wouldn’t be possible if it wasn’t for our closest neighbor. Without the small attraction between these two galactic masses, the earth would have shorter days and certainly no romantic walks by the beach on a beautiful full moon night.

Philosophically speaking, the very concept of the moon and the sun and its’ feminine and masculine qualities that were attributed to each one go back to ancient times and to the concept of Ying and Yang; however, that philosophical and abstract idea that connected thrmoon and the sun actually have a closer relationship with scientific reality than one may first realize when looking at it from a subjective point of view. The fact is that the irreplaceable shine we get from the moon comes from the sun and thus causes the 8 different stages – New moon, Waxing Crescent, First Quarter, Waxing Gibbous, Full moon, Waning Gibbous, Last Quarter and Waning Crescent. Each of those cycles is determined by the angle and relation to which the sun’s rays hit the moon and where the earth is positioned at the given moment. There are a total of 13 cycles in a year – each taking about 29 and a half days and this is exactly where our western calendar derives from – the word month comes from the word moon – thus the moon not only influences the tides of the oceans or the climates of the earth but also the very way we as humans interact with each other individually and as a group.

The Ancient Greek philosopher and astronomer Parmendides is the first person in recorded history to have publically stated that the light of the sun was actually the cause of the moon shining at night. This must have been provocative thought at the time as an uneducated eye and mind (even today) cannot see nor comprehend the fact that the moon itself does not omit light just from site of it. Fast forward a few thousand years and this great ancient mind was correct; nonetheless, he probably would have never imagined that one day in the future – the human race would be stepping on the lunar surface.

In an unrelated political and sociological struggle between two of the biggest super powers on earth at the time – The Soviet Union and the United States of America – the cold war was brewing a thousands of miles down from the half million craters on the lunar surface. The “space race” as it is now known was the unofficial name given to these two nations’ struggles to outdo the other country for bragging rights and technological capabilities. The Soviets clearly won the first stages of this race by being the first ones to launch a satellite, putting a man in space and early forms of moon exploration; however, the U.S. was the one to knock it out the park with the legendary Apollo space programs – specially the one and only, Apollo 11.

On July 16th, 1969 Apollo 11 was launched with Neil Armstrong, Eugene Aldrin and Michael Collins from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida just after 9:30 a.m. Four days later, these three men and their mission to land on the moon would become an event witnessed by 530 million people around the world on television but most important of all – showed the world what humanity is capable of. The mission would bring back a 842-pound rock to earth to be studied by scientist. Billions of dollars were used in order to achieve what was once thought impossible; however, the monetary value is a small fraction of the absolute value that achieving such a historic feat gave to the U.S. as a nation and humanity as a species. In the timeless words of Neil Armstrong, “One small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”