Without our satellite, Earth’s geology, biology, and climate — even human philosophy — would be vastly different.

Credit: NASA EPIC Team

What would Earth be like if there were no Moon? Peter Allen Rhodes

North Bellmore, New York

Without the Moon, Earth’s geology, biology, and climate — as well as human philosophy — would be different in many significant ways.

If Earth had no Moon, the postulated origin of the Moon through a collision between the proto-Earth and a Mars-sized object we now call Theia would never have occurred. The Earth/Theia collision shattered both worlds and the larger Earth attracted much of Theia’s iron and heavier elements. The resulting larger iron core within Earth created a stronger magnetic field that protected the planet from the radiation effects of energetic solar particles, allowing the earliest life-forms to evolve.…