The moon is shaped like an egg John Lee 01.27.01 The Moon's shape is unusual. It is slightly egg-shaped, with the small end of the "egg" pointing toward Earth. This position causes the Moon to keep the same face toward Earth at all times. The far side, which cannot be observed from Earth, has days and nights just like those on the near side. The lunar gravity field is also unusual. A surprising discovery form the tracking of the Lunar Orbiter photographic spacecraft revealed strong areas of high gravitational acceleration located over the circular maria. These "mascons" (mass concentrations) are thought to be caused by layers of denser, basaltic lavas that fill the mare basins.     Much remains to be learned about our Moon, beginning with its origin. Active research still continues to yield information about our nearest neighbor in space using the samples and data returned by Apollo and other missions. Speculation has begun on how the Moon might be used to support lunar bases and other human activities in the next century. ©2001 NASAkids.com , Science@NASA  John Lee ©2001 The Aurora Collection, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Site Development by: Interactive Multimedia. Inc.