Does the Moon Rotate?

It's a common misconception that the Moon does not rotate on its own axis.  Earth, for example, rotates on its own axis about once every 24 hours.  In fact, all astronomical objects in the solar system rotate, although some have a very long rotation period (time it takes to make one complete rotation).  The main reason many people think the Moon does not rotate is due to the fact that we always see the same side of the Moon facing Earth.  We can never see the "back" side of the Moon from Earth.  Remember, that this does NOT mean there is a perpetual dark side of the moon.  All portions of the Moon experience day and night at some point during the Moon's day.

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If the Moon always shows the same "face" to us, then how is it possible that it rotates?  The answer lies in the revolution of the Moon around the Earth.  It takes about 29 days for the Moon to make one orbit around the Earth.  The Moon is rotating on its axis at exactly the same rate, taking about 29 days to make one complete rotation.  So as the Moon moves around the Earth, it slowly rotates such that the same "face" always points toward the Earth.

Is this coincidence?  No.  The Moon is tidally locked to the Earth.  After the Moon's formation approximately 4.6 billion years ago, gravitational forces between the Earth and the Moon slowly "tugged" on each other.  These frictional forces slowly changed the orbit of the Moon to the point that it is at today.  The Earth and the Moon continue to interact gravitationally with each other and as a result, the Moon is slowly moving away from us, by a couple of centimeters each year.  Earth's rotation (or length of day) is slowly increasing  

Tidal locking is common in our solar system and occurs with many moons orbiting other planets.