People once thought the Moon was made of cheese. But we now know that it is really made of yogurt. No…wait! That’s not right. The Moon is covered with soil, just like Earth. But Moon dirt is not at all like our soil.
Moon soil doesn’t contain organic matter--the dead plant and animal gunk rotting in the ground of Earth. Moon soil is more like a dark gray dust or powder, and it can cause big headaches.
When astronauts went to the Moon, the dust got all over everything, hurting equipment. Neil Armstrong, the first guy on the Moon, almost slipped on it. And the Moon dust even got into their ship and space suits. It messed up the suits so badly that the astronauts could wear them only a few times.
Astronaut James B. Irwin scoops up soil on the Moon. Irwin was on the Apollo 15 Mission in 1971.
Photo: NASA