12. Why does Earth rotate? How fast does Earth spin? (A K2S Question)

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When the solar system was formed it was a swirling mass of material which became the Sun and planets. The planets continue to rotate around the Sun, because there is nothing to stop them. In addition, each planet continues to spin on its axis for the same reason. The Earth takes 24 hours to spin around once, thus giving us our night and day. When the astronauts went to the Moon in 1969, it took them three days to get there, so they could see the Earth spin three times during their journey.

Answer provided by Derek Webber


Image:K2S logosmall.jpg Question and Answer extracted from the book Kids to Space - by Lonnie Schorer


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