Far side of the Moon.

The far side of the Moon is the lunar hemisphere that is permanently turned away from the Earth. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 The far hemisphere was first photographed by the Soviet Luna 3 probe in 1959, and was first directly observed by human eyes when the Apollo 8 mission orbited the Moon in 1968. The Soviet spaceprobe Luna 3 (E-3 series was the third spacecraft sent successfully to the Moon and was an early triumph in the human exploration of outer space The rugged terrain is distinguished by a multitude of crater impacts, as well as relatively few lunar maria. The lunar maria (singular mare, two syllables are large dark Basaltic plains on Earth 's Moon, formed by ancient Volcanic eruptions It includes the largest known impact feature in the Solar System: the South Pole-Aitken basin. The South Pole-Aitken basin is an Impact crater on Earth 's Moon. The far side has been suggested as a potential location for a large radio telescope, as it would be shielded from possible radio interference from Earth. A radio telescope is a form of directional Radio antenna used in Radio astronomy and in tracking and collecting data from Satellites

History

Tidal forces between Earth and the Moon have slowed the moon's rotation so that the same side is always facing the Earth. A separate article treats the phenomenon of Tidal resonance in Oceanography. EARTH was a short-lived Japanese vocal trio which released 6 singles and 1 album between 2000 and 2001 The other face, which is never visible from the Earth in its entirety (18% is seen, see Tidal locking), is therefore called the "far side of the Moon". A separate article treats the phenomenon of Tidal resonance in Oceanography. The far side should not be confused with the "dark side" (the hemisphere that is not illuminated by the Sun), as the two are the same only during a full moon. Full moon is a Lunar phase that occurs when the Moon is on the opposite side of the Earth from the Sun. Both the near and far sides receive (on average) almost equal amounts of light from the Sun. However, the term "dark side of the moon" is used commonly to refer to the far side.

The two hemispheres have distinctly different appearances, with the near side covered in multiple, large maria (Latin for 'seas,' since the earliest astronomers thought, wrongly, that these plains were seas of lunar water). The lunar maria (singular mare, two syllables are large dark Basaltic plains on Earth 's Moon, formed by ancient Volcanic eruptions The far side has a battered, densely cratered appearance with few maria. Only 2. 5% of the surface of the far side is covered by maria,^[1] compared to 31. 2% on the near side. The most likely explanation for this difference is related to a higher concentration of heat-producing elements on the near-side hemisphere, as has been demonstrated by geochemical maps obtained from the Lunar Prospector gamma-ray spectrometer. The Lunar Prospector mission was the third selected by NASA for full development and construction as part of the Discovery Program. While other factors such as surface elevation and crustal thickness could also affect where basalts erupt, these do not explain why the farside South Pole-Aitken basin (which contains the lowest elevations of the Moon and possesses a thin crust) was not as volcanically active as Oceanus Procellarum on the near side (for a more detailed discussion, see Lunar mare). The South Pole-Aitken basin is an Impact crater on Earth 's Moon. Oceanus Procellarum (oʊˈsiːənəs ˌprɒsəˈlɛərəm Latin for "Ocean of Storms" is a vast Lunar mare on the western edge of the near side of The lunar maria (singular mare, two syllables are large dark Basaltic plains on Earth 's Moon, formed by ancient Volcanic eruptions

Exploration

1959 USSR stamp commemorating first photographs of the Far side of the Moon

Until the late 1950s little was known about properties of the far side of the Moon. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The 1950s Decade refers to the years of 1950 to 1959 inclusive Librations of the Moon periodically allowed limited glimpses of features that are located near the lunar limb on the far side. In Astronomy libration (from the Latin verb librare "to balance to sway" cf These features, however, were seen from a low angle, hindering useful observation. (It proved difficult to distinguish a crater from a mountain range. ) The remaining 82% of the surface on the far side remained unknown, and its properties were subject to much speculation.

An example of a far side feature that can be viewed through libration is the Mare Orientale, which is a prominent impact basin spanning almost 1,000 kilometres (600 mi) Yet this was not even named as a feature until 1906, by Julius Franz in Der Mond. Like a target ring bull's-eye the Lunar mare Mare Orientale (the "eastern sea" is one of the most striking large scale lunar features The kilometre ( American spelling: kilometer) symbol km is a unit of Length in the Metric system, equal to one thousand A mile is a unit of Length, usually used to measure Distance, in a number of different systems including Imperial units United States Julius Heinrich Franz (1847 &ndash 1913 was a German Astronomer. The true nature of the basin was discovered in the 1960s when rectified images were projected onto a globe. It was photographed in fine detail by Lunar Orbiter 4 in 1967. Lunar Orbiter 4 was designed to take advantage of the fact that the three previous Lunar Orbiters had completed the required needs for Apollo mapping and site selection Year 1967 ( MCMLXVII) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the 1967 Gregorian calendar.

On October 7, 1959 the Soviet probe Luna 3 took the first photographs of the lunar far side, eighteen of them being resolvable ones^[2] covering one-third of the surface invisible from the Earth. Events 3761 BC - The epoch (origin of the modern Hebrew calendar ( Proleptic Julian calendar) The year 1959 ( MCMLIX) was a Common year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 The Soviet spaceprobe Luna 3 (E-3 series was the third spacecraft sent successfully to the Moon and was an early triumph in the human exploration of outer space ^[3] The images were analysed, and the first atlas of the far side of the Moon was published by the USSR Academy of Sciences on November 6, 1960. The Russian Academy of Sciences (Российская Академия Наук Rossi'iskaya Akade'miya Nau'k, shortened to PAH RAN) consists of the National Events 355 - Roman Emperor Constantius II promotes his cousin Julian to the rank of Caesar, entrusting him with Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ^[4][5] It included a catalog of 500 distinguished features of the landscape. ^[6] A year later the first globe (1:13 600 000 scale ^[7]) containing lunar features invisible from the Earth was released in the USSR, based on images from Luna 3. The scale of a Map is the ratio of a single unit of distance on the map to the equivalent distance on the ground The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 ^[8] On July 20, 1965 another Soviet probe Zond 3 transmitted 25 pictures of very good quality of the lunar far side,^[9] with much better resolution than those from Luna 3. Events 1304 - Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle - King Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold Year 1965 ( MCMLXV) was a Common year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the 1965 Gregorian calendar. Zond 3, a member of the Soviet Zond program, was the first Zond spacecraft to successfully complete its mission (a Lunar flyby and took a number of amazing photographs ^[3] In particular, they revealed chains of craters, hundreds of kilometers in length. ^[3] In 1967 the second part of the "Atlas of the Far Side of the Moon" was published in Moscow,^[10][11] based on data from Zond 3, with the catalog now including 4,000 newly discovered features of lunar far side landscape. Moscow (Москва́ romanised: Moskvá, IPA: see also other names) is the Capital and the largest city of ^[3] In the same year the first "Complete Map of the Moon" (1:5 000 000 scale^[7]) and updated complete globe (1:10 000 000 scale), featuring 95 percent of the lunar surface^[7] were released in the Soviet Union. ^[12][13]

As a lot of prominent landscape features of the far side were discovered by Soviet space probes, Soviet scientists selected names for them. The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR was a constitutionally Socialist state that existed in Eurasia from 1922 to 1991 This caused some controversy, and the International Astronomical Union, leaving many of those names intact, later assumed the role of naming lunar features on this hemisphere.

The far side was first observed directly by human eyes during the Apollo 8 mission in 1968. Human beings, humans or man (Origin 1590–1600 L homō man OL hemō the earthly one (see Humus Astronaut William Anders described the view:

It has been seen by all crew members of the Apollo 8 and Apollo 10 through Apollo 17 missions since that time, and photographed by multiple lunar probes. Spacecraft passing behind the Moon were out of direct radio communication with the Earth, and had to wait until the orbit allowed transmission. Radio is the transmission of signals by Modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible Light. During the Apollo missions, the main engine of the Service Module was fired when the vessel was behind the Moon, producing some tense moments in Mission Control before the craft reappeared. The Lyndon B Johnson Space Flight Center ( "JSFC") is the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 's center for

Potential

Because the far side of the Moon is shielded from radio transmissions from the Earth, it is considered a good location for placing radio telescopes for use by astronomers. A radio telescope is a form of directional Radio antenna used in Radio astronomy and in tracking and collecting data from Satellites Historically Astronomy was more concerned with the classification and description of phenomena in the sky while Astrophysics attempted to explain these phenomena Small, bowl-shaped craters provide a natural formation for a stationary telescope similar to Arecibo in Puerto Rico. A telescope is an instrument designed for the observation of remote objects and the collection of Electromagnetic radiation. The Arecibo Observatory is a very sensitive Radio telescope located approximately south-southwest from the town of Arecibo in Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico (ˌpwertoˈriko officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ("Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico" {{lang-en|"Associated Free State of Puerto Rico"}} For much larger-scale telescopes, the 100-kilometre (62 mi) diameter crater Daedalus is situated near the center of the far side, and the 3 km (2 mi)-high rim would help to block stray communications from orbiting satellites. Daedalus is a prominent crater located near the center of the far side of the Moon. Another potential candidate for a radio telescope is the Saha crater. Saha is a lunar Impact crater on the Moon 's far side, behind the eastern limb as seen from the Earth. ^[14]

Before deploying radio telescopes to the far side, several problems must be overcome. The fine lunar dust can contaminate equipment, vehicles, and space suits. The conducting materials used for the radio dishes must also be carefully shielded against the effects of solar flares. A solar flare is a violent explosion in a star's (like the Sun 's atmosphere releasing as much Energy as 6 × 1025 Joules Solar flares Finally the area about the telescopes must be protected against contamination by other radio sources.

The L2 Lagrange point of the Earth-Moon system is located about 62,800 km (39,000 mi) above the far side. This has also been proposed as the location of a future radio telescope, performing a Lissajous orbit about the Lagrangian point. In Orbital mechanics, a Lissajous orbit is a quasi-periodic orbital trajectory that an object can follow around a collinear Libration point ( Lagrangian point

One of the NASA missions to the Moon under study would send a sample-return lander to the South Pole-Aitken basin, the location of a major impact event that created a formation nearly 2,400 kilometres (1,491 mi) across. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA, ˈnæsə is an agency of the United States government, responsible for the nation's public space program The South Pole-Aitken basin is an Impact crater on Earth 's Moon. The size of this impact has created a deep penetration into the lunar surface, and a sample returned from this site could be analyzed for information concerning the interior of the Moon. ^[15]

Because the near side is partly shielded from the solar wind by the Earth, the far side maria are expected to have the highest concentration of Helium-3 on the surface of the Moon. The solar wind is a Stream of charged particles&mdasha plasma &mdashthat are ejected from the upper atmosphere of the Sun. The lunar maria (singular mare, two syllables are large dark Basaltic plains on Earth 's Moon, formed by ancient Volcanic eruptions This article is about the elemental isotope For the record label Helium 3 see Muse or A&E Records. ^[16] This isotope is relatively rare on the Earth, but has good potential for use as a fuel in fusion reactors. Isotopes (Greek isos = "equal" tópos = "site place" are any of the different types of atoms ( Nuclides In Physics and Nuclear chemistry, nuclear fusion is the process by which multiple- like charged atomic nuclei join together to form a heavier nucleus Proponents of lunar settlement have cited presence of this material as a reason for development of a Moon base.

Fictional references

• The novel Space tells the fictional story of an Apollo 18 mission to the far side of the Moon. Space is a novel by James A Michener published in 1982 It is a fictionalised history of the United States Space program, with a particular emphasis The novel was the source for a 1985 TV mini-series of the same name. Television ( TV) is a widely used Telecommunication medium for sending ( Broadcasting) and receiving moving Images, either monochromatic A miniseries (also mini-series) in a serial Storytelling medium is a production which tells a story in a pre-planned limited number of episodes
• The scientifically impossible premise for the TV program Space: 1999 was the explosion of a nuclear waste dump on the far side of the Moon. Science (from the Latin scientia, meaning " Knowledge " or "knowing" is the effort to discover, and increase human understanding Space 1999 ( ITC Entertainment and RAI, 1975-77 is a British science-fiction television series Nuclear material consists of materials used in Nuclear technology systems such as Nuclear reactors and Nuclear weapons Most commonly this refers to This propelled the Moon out of Earth's orbit and deep into space.
• "Ideas Die Hard" (1957), a short story by Isaac Asimov, described an ill-fated trip to the dark side of the Moon. Isaac Asimov (c January 2 1920 &ndash April 6 1992 ˈaɪzək ˈæzɪmʌv originally Исаак Озимов but now transcribed into Russian as, was a Russian First appearing in Galaxy magazine, it was reprinted in The Winds of Change and Other Stories, ISBN 0-586-05743-9. Galaxy Science Fiction was a digest-size Science fiction magazine, the creation of noted editor H
• In the anime show Grendizer, the Vega galactic empire has set up a base on the far side of the Moon from which they launch attacks on Earth. is a Super robot show created by Manga artist Go Nagai.It was shown on Japanese TV in 1975 and lasted 74 episodes
• Again in another anime show Tekkaman Blade, the Radam mothership crash-lands on the far side of the Moon after sustaining severe damage, and for the duration of its repairs serves as the main base of operations for the Radam invaders. is an Anime series released in 1992 This series was intended to be a reboot of the original Tekkaman The Space Knight anime though these shows ultimately
• Pink Floyd had a seminal album titled The Dark Side of the Moon. Pink Floyd are The Dark Side of the Moon (titled Dark Side of the Moon in the 1993 CD edition is a Concept album by the British Progressive
• "The Far Side of the Moon" is the English title of the French-Canadian movie La Face cachée de la lune. Far Side of the Moon, in original French, La face cachée de la lune, is a 2003 film by Robert Lepage.
• The Far side of the Moon also features prominently in the paranoid rantings of Francis E. Dec, an American conspiracy theorist who likely suffered from schizophrenia. Francis E Dec ( January 6, 1926 – January 21, 1996) was an American from Hempstead New York known for his social-political Schizophrenia ( from the Greek roots schizein (σχίζειν "to split" and phrēn In Dec's worldview, the so-called "dark side of the moon" housed what he referred to as the "Brain-bank cities", which Dec proclaimed played an integral part in controlling and enslaving the entire human population.
• In the movie Iron Sky, nazi spaceships are sent to the far side of the Moon to found the military base Schwarze Sonne (Black Sun). Iron Sky (Finnish Rautataivas) is an upcoming feature-length motion picture from the makers of the Star Wreck series their Their plan is to build a powerful fleet and return to conquer Earth. The film is set in the year 2018 when their descendants finally return.

References

External links

• Lunar and Planetary Institute: Exploring the Moon
• Lunar and Planetary Institute: Lunar Atlases
• Ralph Aeschliman Planetary Cartography and Graphics: Lunar Maps
• Northwest Africa 482, only meteorite believed to have originated from the far side of the Moon