Beth Davis, age 9, of Gastonia, N.C., for her question:

DOES IT RAIN ON THE MOON?

On earth, the weather happens in the airy atmosphere hundreds of miles above our heads. This great blanket of filmy air creates clouds and changes their misty moisture into raindrops. If we had no atmosphere, we would have no clouds, no rain and no weather. Things are different on the moon, for the moon does not have a great blanket of weathery air.

On the moon, there are no clouds, no showers and no falling rain. In fact, the moon does not have any of our kind of weather. However, other things do fall from the skies. The moon is hit by far more falling meteorites than we are.

It also is struck by more tiny particles that stream out from the sun. But there is no air to breathe and no air to create the sort of weather we get on the earth.