Dedicated to the only natural satellite of our planet – the Moon. The coin is round in shape, made of silver, and depicts the Moon or a small crescent in the hand, whose surface is made of solid silver covered with a thin layer of pure silver. The mint mark on the coin is applied using a technology called Water Transfer Print or hydrographics, which is used to apply three-dimensional images onto surfaces. The coin weighs 5 grams and has a diameter of 3 inches (93.3 mm). It is issued in a limited edition of 1499 pieces, making it a true collector’s item! In the dark night sky, the Moon’s disc always appears bright, but this is because the dark asphalt of the roads or the surface of the Earth is illuminated by various glowing craters on the Moon, caused by asteroids, meteorites, and comets. It is believed that the Moon was formed when the young Earth collided with a smaller Mars-sized cosmic body, called Theia. Scientists explain that the Moon was gradually formed from Earth’s debris over a long period. This theory is called the Giant Impact Hypothesis – that is, the Moon is a fragment of Earth’s gravity field. NASA, the leading aeronautics and space agency in the USA, turned the Moon into a stepping stone for humanity’s space exploration and a symbol of human bravery and a desire to conquer new horizons. Today, the Moon remains Earth’s natural satellite and an object of human fascination. The Moon’s diameter is approximately 3.7 times smaller than Earth’s diameter – 3,735.5 km in circumference and almost 11,000 km in size. The Moon orbits Earth in an elliptical orbit, completing the cycle every 27 days, at a distance of about 384,400 km. The Moon always shows the same face to Earth because it is tidally locked with Earth, rotating synchronously with its orbit. This means the Moon always shows the same side to Earth, but from Earth’s and Sun’s perspectives, the Moon’s phases change, allowing us to see the Moon’s illuminated part from Earth. The first humans to walk on the Moon were Americans in July 1969. The successful Apollo 11 mission was the first NASA-organized piloted space flight to the Moon, with astronauts Neil Alden Armstrong, Edwin Eugene “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. Armstrong and Aldrin landed on the Moon, while Collins orbited it. He was the pilot of the command module during the mission to the Moon, orbiting the lunar spacecraft Columbia, while Neil Armstrong and B. In total, from 1969 to 1972, 24 US astronauts flew, half of whom spent time on the Moon’s surface. Since the last human visit to the Moon almost 50 years ago, NASA has implemented the Artemis program in 2017, which aims to send humans to the Moon by 2025 and to land a woman and a man on the Moon. By the way, NASA revived the robotic lunar exploration program in 1994. One of the most recent research results confirmed that there is water on the Moon. It is believed that most of it is ice located in permanently shadowed craters at the Moon’s poles. Scientists have also found that there is ice preserved in cosmic dust and meteorite impacts on the Moon’s surface. Currently, the Moon’s atmosphere is very thin and is called an exosphere. It does not protect against solar radiation or meteorite impacts. The temperature in the Sunlit zone on the Moon reaches up to 127 degrees Celsius, while in the shadowed areas it drops to -173 degrees Celsius. The coin dedicated to the Moon shows its reverse side with the flag of Barbados. The main star of the sky is depicted here – the fikus, which is also the national flower of Barbados – the sea grape flower. The flower in the upper left is a pelican, and the fish is the yellowtail snapper (a species of sea bream). The flower’s hand is holding a sugar cane leaf, crossing the Andros cross. The inscription around the edge of the coin reads “Pride and Industry” (meaning Pride and Industry). The reverse side also features the year of issue – 2023, and the coin’s face value – 5 dollars.
