Earth

Earth. . , These tiny spheres are the planet Earth and its Moon at one 10-billionth actual size. , , If Earth were this big, how far away would the Sun and other planets be? Look at the map on the lower panel to find our position in the solar system.. , , Welcome Home , From space, Earth's swirling white clouds reveal an often-turbulent atmosphere. The browns are landmasses, but mostly we see the blue of a planet covered with oceans of water. As nightfall sweeps westward across its face, the land begins to glow with lights--we can see ourselves. , , The Living Planet , From space you might miss the most remarkable thing about Earth. It is teeming with life! The diversity of life here is astounding, from single-celled organisms whose world is a drop of water, to the blue whale whose home spans an entire ocean. From frigid Antarctica to the ocean depths, life flourishes. , , One Giant Leap , The Moon's surface is ancient, almost frozen in time. The Moon preserved our first steps on another world, made when Apollo 11 astronauts landed at Tranquility Base on July 20, 1969. A thousand years from now, the footprints in the lunar dust will appear the same as the day they were made. , , Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin during Apollo on mission to the Moon. , NASA, July 20, 1969 , , Walk the scale Model Solar System , In the real solar system, the planets never line up as they orbit the sun.. , Walk to Mars about 12 steps , , Imagine , Just standing on the equator, Earth's rotation carries you along 1,000 mph (1,600 km/hr). , , Walk to Venus about 6 steps. ,