Measuring the Size of the Universe: How Far to the Mn? 67
Measuring the Size of the Universe: How Far to the Moon?
The Moon is currently moving away from Earth at a rate of approximately 3.8 cm (1.5 inches)
each year. The mean distance between Earth and the Moon is approximately 385,000 km
(239,228 miles), so this distance will increase by 1 percent in approximately 100 million
years, if movement continues at this rate. Isn’t it remarkable that the distances between
heavenly bodies can be measured in millimeters?
Corner Cube Mirrors
We can make such precise mea-
surements thanks to the Apollo
space missions that were launched
beginning in 1969. ...
Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month, and much more.
O’Reilly covers everything we've got, with content to help us build a world-class technology community, upgrade the capabilities and competencies of our teams, and improve overall team performance as well as their engagement.
Julian F.
Head of Cybersecurity
I wanted to learn C and C++, but it didn't click for me until I picked up an O'Reilly book. When I went on the O’Reilly platform, I was astonished to find all the books there, plus live events and sandboxes so you could play around with the technology.
Addison B.
Field Engineer
I’ve been on the O’Reilly platform for more than eight years. I use a couple of learning platforms, but I'm on O'Reilly more than anybody else. When you're there, you start learning. I'm never disappointed.
Amir M.
Data Platform Tech Lead
I'm always learning. So when I got on to O'Reilly, I was like a kid in a candy store. There are playlists. There are answers. There's on-demand training. It's worth its weight in gold, in terms of what it allows me to do.