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SpaceKids: How Far Is the Moon?

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The full moon rises behind some trees in this photo taken by skywatcher Brad Ervin in Bruswick, Georgia on March 19, 2011, when the moon was closer to Earth than it had been in 18 years.
The full moon rises behind some trees in this photo taken by skywatcher Brad Ervin in Bruswick, Georgia on March 19, 2011, when the moon was closer to Earth than it had been in 18 years. (Image credit: Brad Ervin)

The orbit of the moon around the Earth is not a perfect circle so the distance varies a little. The average distance is around 384,400 kilometers or 230,600 miles.

When NASA's Apollo astronauts flew to the moon in the late 1960s and early 1970s, it took them three days to reach the moon and enter orbit after launch.

Did you know that the moon is moving away from Earth? It moves away at about 3.8 centimeters per year.

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Space.com Staff
Space.com Staff
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Space.com is the premier source of space exploration, innovation and astronomy news, chronicling (and celebrating) humanity's ongoing expansion across the final frontier. Originally founded in 1999, Space.com is, and always has been, the passion of writers and editors who are space fans and also trained journalists. Our current news team consists of Editor-in-Chief Tariq Malik; Editor Hanneke Weitering, Senior Space Writer Mike Wall; Senior Writer Meghan Bartels; Senior Writer Chelsea Gohd, Senior Writer Tereza Pultarova and Staff Writer Alexander Cox, focusing on e-commerce. Senior Producer Steve Spaleta oversees our space videos, with Diana Whitcroft as our Social Media Editor.