Fact #179
Strange but true
Stand anywhere on the near side and the Earth stays put in the sky. It does not rise, it does not set, it hangs in the same spot and slowly changes phase.
The Moon turns once per orbit, so the Earth stays fixed above whichever point faces it. It nods around a little — eight degrees or so each way, from libration — but a base near the limb would see Earth permanently on the horizon, and a base on the far side would never see it at all. Only the Apollo crews, in orbit, ever watched an Earthrise.
Source: NASA Moon facts (opens in a new tab) · checked Sep 2026