The Moon

If MUSES had Olympic Games, and only one MUSE could win the gold medal for “universal inspiration for imagination motivation”, the MOON would take the prize.

I would argue that 99.999% of all human beings at one time or another has looked up at the Moon and imagined, WHAT IF…

Our imaginations LOVE the moon because it is so close, yet so far away. Sometimes we pretend that we can see a man’s face in the moon, or we might imagine that the moon is a big hunk of cheese.  My favorite is when Sesame Street’s Cookie Monster flies a rocket to the Moon and finds the Moon to be a huge COOKIE.

But here are some “real” facts:

The Moon is 238,857 miles from Earth. It is the fifth largest moon in our Solar System. Jupiter’s moon, Ganymede, wins the Gold for that category.

It takes 27 Earth days for the Moon to circle Earth. And while it circles, we get to see the sun’s light reflecting from the Moon’s surface. Take a look at this video from the History Channel to learn how this works.

The Moon has no atmosphere, but there is some gravity. The Moon’s gravity actually pulls the tides of Earth’s oceans. WOW! And without Earth’s gravitational pull, the Moon would not belong to Earth. As a matter of fact, without Earth’s gravitational pull we wouldn’t belong to Earth, either. We all depend on Earth’s gravity to keep our feet on the ground. Otherwise, we would float away to Space.

For eons people have dreamt of flying to the moon. And on July 20, 1969, that dream became reality. NASA’s Apollo 11 mission took the first men, Neil Armstrong and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin, to the Moon.

 “That’s one small step for man. One giant leap for mankind,” said Armstrong after his first step off the Eagle landing module onto the Moon. These legendary first words will never be forgotten. Here is the actual video footage of Armstrong on the Moon. Sadly, Neil Armstrong died recently on August 25.

If you would like to learn about all the Apollo Missions to the moon, take a look at NASA’s Apollo site. You will find that America has a strong interest in moon exploration. Also take a look at this photo of a moon rock from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

With all of that learning, I bet you are in the mood for a snack. How about a Moon Pie? Ever had one? They’ve been one of America’s favorite snack since the early 1900’s. Imagine a graham cracker and marshmallow sandwich dipped in chocolate, banana or vanilla candy. My mouth is watering just thinking about it!

With this new knowledge, what kind of story could you write? Maybe these WHAT IF questions will help you get started.

WHAT IF the moon really was a big hunk of cheese?

WHAT IF the Man in the Moon got angry and it was your main character’s mission to calm him down? Maybe this would be the next Apollo Mission.

WHAT IF your main character found out that the Moon landing was a big hoax.

The possibilities are endless, and please leave your own what if questions in the comment section below. I’d love to see what you come up with.

So, grab a cup of hot cocoa, a pencil and a piece of paper, and let’s begin. With your imagination, we can go anywhere. I look forward to seeing where you take us.

With Imagination,

Professor Watermelon

The word of the day is “gravity”. Here is the definition: the force of attraction by which terrestrial bodies tend to fall toward the center of the Earth.