# earth to moon distance scale **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [April 7, 2009, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299 "2009-04-07T20:46:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![tdn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/94ad74/32.png) [@tdn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tdn)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 4:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/21 "2009-04-08T16:39:29Z")
OK, so my numbers are off by a little. That’s what I get for misremembering a book (Bad Astronomy) that I read years ago. But yeah, you can fly a ship right through the asteroid belt without worrying too much about a collision. ---
**Author:** ![Smeghead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f1d935/32.png) [@Smeghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smeghead)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/22 "2009-04-08T16:43:53Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > So can you potentially drive a “spaceship” through the asteroid belt without worrying about any damage? It’s the other way around. It’d take some serious planning and effort to go through the asteroid belt and actually hit something. ---
**Author:** ![user\_hostile](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/user_hostile/32/474_2.png) [@user\_hostile](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/user_hostile)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 4:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/23 "2009-04-08T16:44:57Z")
The website also states that the moon is drifting away from the earth about 1" each year. In the 60’s, I remember reading it was an inch a century. Anybody wanna guess how much extra fuel the Saturn V needs to go the extra yard or so since '69? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Santos\_L\_Halper](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/santos_l_halper/32/1_2.png) [@Santos\_L\_Halper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Santos_L_Halper)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/24 "2009-04-08T17:12:55Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > So can you potentially drive a “spaceship” through the asteroid belt without worrying about any damage? Yep, the asteroid belt isn’t anywhere near as crowded as you normally see portrayed in movies. There are hundreds of thousands of asteroids, but they’re spread out over billions of cubic miles of space. To quote Douglas Adams: > [@](#): > > Space is big. You just won’t believe how vastly, hugely, mind- bogglingly big it is. I mean, you may think it’s a long way down the road to the chemist’s, but that’s just peanuts to space. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [April 8, 2009, 5:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/25 "2009-04-08T17:53:40Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > As a rough guide, driving to the Moon would be approximately like driving fifty round trips across the United States. Well, as [Hugh Blumenfeld](http://www.hughblumenfeld.com/) put it, > [@](#): > > Shoot the moon > Well, a quarter of a million miles isn’t really that far > It took me two Chevys, but I’ve done it in a car I’d hate to do the trip at 65mph, though. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 12:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/26 "2009-04-09T00:11:21Z")
> [@Smeghead](#): > > It’s the other way around. It’d take some serious planning and effort to go through the asteroid belt and actually hit something. Never tell me the odds! ---
**Author:** ![NinjaChick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/71c47a/32.png) [@NinjaChick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NinjaChick)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/27 "2009-04-09T01:58:41Z")
Just think about being Michael Collins - the guy who stayed up in lunar orbit while Armstrong and Aldrin were down on the surface of the moon. Talk about isolation. But really, [it’s not that far at all](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LInBuEZmEos) (sound warning). ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 5:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/28 "2009-04-09T05:59:05Z")
> [@tdn](#): > > It actually seems closer than what I pictured. But that was after I’d read about it. When I was a kid, my perception was totally different. Me too. But this was after my jokester Astronomy TA in college offered us extra credit to create and bring in a scale model of the solar system. :eek: ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/29 "2009-04-09T06:03:23Z")
> [@user\_hostile](#): > > Anybody wanna guess how much extra fuel the Saturn V needs to go the extra yard or so since '69? 😉 Zero? You just have to leave Earth’s orbit and coast the rest of the way, no? /Sorry if that was rhetorical. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/30 "2009-04-09T06:27:10Z")
It’s really amazing when you think about it. I mean, the Sun happens to be 400 times the Moon’s diameter, and 400 times as far away. There’s no other planets in the solar system like that. I mean, can you imagine the odds? The odds of that happening is _astronomical!_ ---
**Author:** ![Cyberhwk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7993a0/32.png) [@Cyberhwk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cyberhwk)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/31 "2009-04-09T06:44:56Z")
> [@EvilTOJ](#): > > It’s really amazing when you think about it. I mean, the Sun happens to be 400 times the Moon’s diameter, and 400 times as far away. There’s no other planets in the solar system like that. I mean, can you imagine the odds? The odds of that happening is _astronomical!_ Ooooo… I see what you did there. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![ShermanAter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b4bc9f/32.png) [@ShermanAter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ShermanAter)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/32 "2009-04-09T06:48:07Z")
Thanks OP for posting that. I love stuff like this. To contribute to the thread, I will add a website that shows the phase of the moon on a daily basis. > **[Current Moon Phase](https://www.calculatorcat.com/moon_phases/phasenow.php)** > > The current moon phase, set against a stunning backdrop of stars! The moon is/was full tonight depending on your location. ---
**Author:** ![flodnak](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/838e76/32.png) [@flodnak](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/flodnak)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/33 "2009-04-09T07:17:22Z")
It doesn’t include the Moon, but the [Thousand Yard Model](http://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html) gives you a pretty good idea of the scale of things in the Solar Sytem. And they’re not what most people expect. ---
**Author:** ![Reply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/reply/32/15952_2.png) [@Reply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reply)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/34 "2009-04-09T07:44:10Z")
> [@flodnak](#): > > It doesn’t include the Moon, but the [Thousand Yard Model](http://www.noao.edu/education/peppercorn/pcmain.html) gives you a pretty good idea of the scale of things in the Solar Sytem. And they’re not what most people expect. I can’t help but think that a loooooooong, multi-page document is a really difficult way to visualize what could be a [very simple illustration](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Planets2008.jpg) (accurate for relative sizes; still looking for one that depicts relative distances). ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 9:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/35 "2009-04-09T09:39:04Z")
> [@](#): > > It’s really amazing when you think about it. I mean, the Sun happens to be 400 times the Moon’s diameter, and 400 times as far away. There’s no other planets in the solar system like that. I mean, can you imagine the odds? The odds of that happening is astronomical! We just happen to live in a lucky time. In the distant past the moon was much closer to the earth and it is moving ever farther away all the time. In the future this happy arrangement for full eclipses will no longer occur. ---
**Author:** ![Polycarp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/82dd89/32.png) [@Polycarp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Polycarp)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 2:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/36 "2009-04-09T14:48:14Z")
> [@notfrommensa](#): > > > [@](#): > > > > The Moon’s surface area is a bit greater than Africa’s > > I don’t know if that is a commentary on how small the moon is or how big Africa is. I remember reading with amazement that Mars actually has more land area than Earth. It seems contrary to common sense – until you remember that over 70% of the Earth’s surface is water, and Mars has no oceans. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/the_stafford_cripps/32/7167_2.png) [@The\_Stafford\_Cripps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Stafford_Cripps)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 5:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/37 "2009-04-09T17:28:17Z")
> [@tr0psn4j](#): > > So can you potentially drive a “spaceship” through the asteroid belt without worrying about any damage? Presumably NASA have already done it several times. ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 6:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/38 "2009-04-09T18:33:56Z")
> [@Polycarp](#): > > I remember reading with amazement that Mars actually has more land area than Earth. It seems contrary to common sense – until you remember that over 70% of the Earth’s surface is water, and Mars has no oceans. Actually, it has a little bit less. Not by much, but a little less. It’s still remarkable that the numbers are close (at least it is if you look at a comparative picture of the two planets; Earth is much bigger.) ---
**Author:** ![Terminus\_Est](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terminus_est/32/3087_2.png) [@Terminus\_Est](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Terminus_Est)\ **Post date:** [April 9, 2009, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/39 "2009-04-09T19:08:53Z")
> [@Reply](#): > > I can’t help but think that a loooooooong, multi-page document is a really difficult way to visualize what could be a [very simple illustration](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/c4/Planets2008.jpg) (accurate for relative sizes; still looking for one that depicts relative distances). [Here’s one](http://www.troybrophy.com/projects/solarsystem/) that’s accurate for both size and distance. You’ll need an ultra-wide monitor to fully appreciate it. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [April 10, 2009, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299/40 "2009-04-10T00:03:50Z")
The eye doctor asked my father-in-law, “Can you see pretty well?” “I guess so.” “Can you see faraway things?” “I can see the moon. That’s pretty far, isn’t it?” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/earth-to-moon-distance-scale/492299.md?page=3)