But it is the nearest to us, and on that account, with the exception of the sun, appears the target. The moon travels round the earth in a period of about one month, just as the earth goes round the sun in a day. The earth, however, turns round upon its axis once every twenty four hours, thus causing the alternation of day and night, whereas the moon takes a month to revolve on her axis, so that she always presents to us very nearly the same surface.

The moon has no light of her own like the sun and the stars, but shines by means of the reflected light of the sun. As the side which we see is not always that upon which the sun shines, her form appears to change and to grow larger and smaller. If we attentively watch the full moon, we soon become familiar with its spotted surface, which never changes. From this the conclusion is drawn that it cannot be like that of the earth, which is often obscured by clouds and mist. Image source: c1.staticflickr.com if we use the telescope, we find that all the details of the moons surface are hard and cold. There is no shade or delicate colouring, and nothing like mist or cloud has ever been seen. There seems to be nothing but bare rock and sand, or ice and snow, and there are no traces of vegetation or animal life.

Many have central cones closely resembling those in the volcanic regions of the earth. The mountains are extremely rugged in character, a feature that is mainly due to the absence of air and water. On the earth the hills are rounded and moulded by the action of storms, by rain and snow but as these agencies are absent from the moon, its mountains stand as rugged as when they were first formed millions of years ago. Combined with the sun, it exerts an attraction upon the earth which is the cause of the tides.

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They carry vessels in and out of port and keep navigable many harbours which would otherwise become impossible owing to the silting up of the worlds work and not skulk in idleness. Retribution comes to the idle in the shape of poverty, impaired health, enfeebled mind, loss of character and self control, and damaged reputation. Visions of hovering spacecraft, lunar greenhouses and dome like habitats on the cratered surface of the moon came to life in the artwork of students who used their artistic talents to illustrate what it may someday be like to live and work on the moon. The creations were entries in nasa's first life and work on the moon art contest. For nasa's exploration systems mission directorate, the contest challenges university and high school art and design students to partner with science and engineering departments to create art that represents living and working on the moon. Such collaboration has the potential to generate new ideas for living and working on other worlds, resulting in more successful long duration space missions.

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The contest supports nasa's goal of attracting and retaining students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics, and strengthening the agency's and the nation's future workforce. Judges rated the entries on originality, creativity, artistic elements and validity of concept. Traffic jam by justin burns won first place in nasa's 2008 life and work on the moon art contest.

Image credit: justin burns college student justin burns illustrated a lunar traffic jam for his winning entry in the 2008 contest. The university of memphis design student said his inspiration for the long line of lunar traffic was actually life on earth. I don't see it much different than life on earth, to be honest, burns said of future habitation on the moon. I chose to illustrate a realistic problem that would most likely occur on the moon: a traffic jam. Of course they have high tech gear, futuristic vehicles and tunnels to get from one part of town to the other. I tried to attack this problem in a funny, realistic situated way that just might occur on the moon.

Burn's illustration shows a woman on a space motorcycle with a long line of traffic behind her. The vehicles, including a space car and a space truck, are traveling in an enclosed tunnel from an enclosed city in the background. Image credit: johnathan culpepper second place winner johnathan culpepper won for his painting, a busy day on the moon.

Culpepper, who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in environmental science at medgar evers college, part of the city university of new york, said the contest challenged him to learn more about the environment on the moon and the risks to astronauts. He researched dangers like cosmic rays and radiation, the effect of reduced gravity on human bones, and the types of natural lunar resources that could be used to construct facilities. In his art culpepper addresses the conditions he studied by incorporating some of the major facilities needed at a lunar outpost, including a water conservation and management facility, living quarters, and a lunar power station. He also included the spacecraft that astronauts would use to travel to and from the moon the spacecraft that he says would double as a research center and motorcycle like moonbuggies to get around.

Most importantly, i appreciated the way i got to showcase my expertise as a young scientist, engineer, environmentalist and artist, culpepper said. In third place, university of cincinnati graduate students lann brumlik and corey dirutigliano created a poster using actual images of the moon and incorporating architectural plans for a lunar health habitat. In support of the physiological and psychological well being of our future lunar citizens. In enabling exploration, design students lann brumlik and corey dirutigliano combined actual images of the moon with architectural plans for a lunar habitat.

Image credit: lann brumlik and corey dirutigliano both students are in the university's college of design, architecture, art, and planning. In their entry enabling exploration, brumlik and dirutigliano explored the opportunities as well as the difficulties of creating habitats for a sustained human presence on the moon. The duo familiarized themselves with the critical considerations of lunar habitation by researching nasa's plans for returning to the moon as well as information gathered on past nasa missions. This research revealed a range of information such as environmental conditions and their potential physiological and psychological implications on lunar inhabitants that helped us establish parameters for our design, brumlik said. While we wanted the image of the design to convey the sense of adventure and technological advancement inherent in the exploration of the lunar frontier and beyond, we also wanted to remain connected to the practical considerations of this mission as revealed by our initial research. Brumlik's and dirutigliano's participation in the contest was part of their graduate assistantships and a larger design project focused on enabling the exploration of new frontiers and extreme environments.

Ellen ladwig's painting, the perseid meteor shower on a newly terra formed moon, was inspired from images by nasa's hubble, chandra and spitzer telescopes. Image credit: ellen ladwig artist ellen ladwig's painting, the perseid meteor shower on a newly terra formed moon, placed fourth in the contest. The university of missouri fine arts senior said her inspiration for the painting came from images by nasa's hubble, chandra and spitzer telescopes. She combined the awesome views of the universe from nasa imagery with her own imagination about living on the moon. In astronomy class, i imagined a moonscape with green hills, a sky shimmering with stars, and a deep lake with a waterfall, ladwig said. Ladwig is currently working on a senior exhibit of paintings based on nasa images. My hope is that the viewer will feel as if they were personally experiencing the sight, she said.

For his entry, asa schultz, who tied for first in the high school division, focused on the needs of people living on the moon. Schultz's drawing pole colony depicts greenhouses and solar panels on the surface of the moon. The greenhouse would supply food and oxygen, while the solar panels would power the colony's energy needs, schultz said. In his drawing of a lunar colony, high school winner asa schultz included greenhouses, to supply food and oxygen on the moon, and solar panels to provide energy. Image credit: asa schultz in his artist's statement, schultz proposed a special glass to prevent solar radiation and space debris from damaging the greenhouses. These installments would need to be placed high on a plateau in the polar regions for the favorable lighting conditions, as these high polar areas receive long periods of sunlight, perfect for crop growth and solar energy needs, schultz said. Due to the angle of the sun, they also have low shaded craters, potential spots for ice, and in turn, a water supply.