Why do we only see one side of the Moon?

The Moon floats high in the sky, bright, beautiful, with dark spots on its shiny disk. On a full moon, it resembles someone’s round, good-natured, slightly mocking face. We always see her like this. And before us, for thousands of years, people looked at the exact same Moon and the dark spots were distributed on it in the same way, which make it look like a human face. For thousands of years, people have been observing changes in her bright face - from the thin sickle of a newborn month to the full radiance of her disk. Meanwhile, the Moon is a ball, the same as other planets, including our Earth, on which you and I live. But the Moon never shows us its other side, we do not see it. Why?

The Moon rotates around its axis and at the same time makes its way around the Earth, because it is a satellite of the Earth.

In twenty-nine and a half days it completes its revolution around the Earth, and... it takes the same amount of time to turn around its axis - so slowly does it complete this revolution. And that's the whole point. That's why we always see only one side of her.

But how does this happen? So that you can imagine this more clearly, let's do a little experiment. Take some small table (if there is no table, a chair or something else that is more convenient for you, that will be at hand). This chair will be the imaginary Earth, and you yourself will be the Moon, which revolves around the Earth. Start moving around the table, remaining facing it the entire time. At the beginning of your movement, for example, you saw a window in front of you, but then, as you make your circle around the table (that is, the Earth), this window will be behind you, and only at the end of the path will you see it again . This will only confirm that you have turned not only around the table, but also around yourself, your axis.

That's how the Moon is. It rotates around the Earth and at the same time around its own axis.

But everyone now knows that we finally saw the far side of the Moon! How did this happen? Do you remember?.. However, no, you don’t remember this: in those years you were still too young! And this happened in 1959, when Soviet scientists launched an automatic station towards the Moon, which flew around our satellite and transmitted images from the other side to us on Earth. And people all over the world saw the far side of the Moon for the first time!

And that's not all. A few years later, Soviet scientists again sent an automatic station towards the Moon, and this time again photographs were taken and sent to Earth. Thanks to the images, scientists then compiled the first map of both sides of the lunar surface, and then a new color map of the Moon with lunar seas, mountain ranges, major peaks, ring crater mountains, circuses.

While I was writing these pages, one news followed another. Before I had time to tell you about the new color map, an amazing event happened: in February 1966, the world’s first automatic station, ours, the Soviet one, landed on the Earth’s satellite! She made, as scientists say, a soft landing - this means that she landed on the Moon smoothly, without breaking the equipment.

Having softly landed on the moon, the automatic station immediately began to work hard - it sent more and more pictures of the lunar surface, and these pictures were taken at close range. But this is extremely important! The images were large and accurate: scientists simply pounced on these amazing documents and looked at them carefully; Now they saw what the surface of the Moon was like, what was on it, they affirmed or, on the contrary, changed their points of view about the lunar surface.

Luna 9 made a soft landing on our satellite, the Moon. And soon after that, in March 1966, Luna 10 was launched.

She began to fly around the moon, that is, she became her artificial satellite, and the Luna-10 instruments sent messages to Earth that scientific researchers needed to better know our celestial neighbor.

"Luna-10" made its endless flight around the Moon, so close and familiar, and in the first days the whole world could hear the melody of the Communist anthem - "Internationale" - coming from it.

After "Luna-10" there were also "Luna-11", and "Luna-12", and "Luna-14", and "Luna-16"... Our messengers are constantly soaring into outer space, they are paving the first paths to our heavenly neighbor. And the most difficult and most important thing is always what is done for the first time!

However, the news recent years amazing! American astronauts spaceship Apollo 11, Neil Armstrong, Edwin Aldrin and Michael Collins were the first to fly to the Moon in July 1969, two of them, Neil Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin, stepped on its surface, the third, Michael Collins, was waiting for them, making circles around the Moon .

The names of these cosmonauts will go down in history just like the name of our glorious Gagarin, who was the first to go into space and see our planet Earth from the outside.

And a very special place in the study of our celestial neighbor is occupied by the amazing Lunokhod-1 apparatus, delivered to the Moon in November 1970. He worked hard there, doing man's work to explore the lunar surface. This amazing device only worked on a lunar day, when it could charge its batteries from solar energy. A moonlit night Oh, he was resting, as they affectionately said about him: he was sleeping.

Really, all this looks like a fairy tale.

And it may well happen that during the time this book is being printed, new amazing events will happen and we will have to expand this chapter, although at first we were going to talk about only one thing: why we don’t see the far side of the Moon.

Shooting stars

I don’t know about you, but I have always loved looking at the sky on quiet, cloudless evenings. I loved looking for constellations, some were difficult to find, others were easy, for example Ursa Major or Cassiopeia.

On dark August nights, when the sky becomes completely black, a wide bright road of stars is clearly visible - Milky Way. I stood for a long time with my head thrown back, so that my neck ached, and admired the dark sky, the stars and the silver moon.

But... what is this? A fiery dot traced the sky and went out. “The star has fallen,” say those who saw it.

Star? No, this is something completely different, because stars do not fall. These are small pebbles and specks of dust that fly through outer space and with terrible speed, attracted by the Earth, fly into the atmosphere and burn up! We see this short flash and say: the star has fallen!

Little celestial guests that burn up somewhere very high above the Earth are called meteors.

In August, October and November, the Earth encounters especially a lot of cosmic dust, clouds, and pebbles during its journey around the Sun. That is why at this time you can often see fiery flashes in the sky. This means that the Earth encountered whole swarms of meteors and “space debris” on its way, and it flared up as it flew into our atmosphere.

It happens that dozens of meteors flash in the sky at once and the “star shower” continues until the Earth passes the meteor shower.

A shower of stars fell over Moscow more than twenty years ago, in 1946. Only we couldn’t observe it because the sky was covered with clouds. It was very annoying!

And there are not rains, but simply stellar showers! But this happens very rarely. At the end of the last century, several such showers occurred; they could be observed both in the skies of America and over Europe. It was a magnificent fireworks display created by nature itself.

Star showers, and especially star showers, are an exceptional phenomenon. You can live your life and not see them. But we can always observe lonely fiery dots flashing and extinguishing in the dark August sky, lonely “shooting stars”. Just remember: these are not stars - stars never fall! This is cosmic dust. Dust grains flare up due to strong air resistance when they fly into the earth's atmosphere. They flash and go out!

Why is there day and night?

I woke up at eight o'clock. Outside the window it’s night time! I remembered that today is December 22, the winter solstice, when we, in the Northern Hemisphere, have the longest night of the year and the shortest day.

That year there was no snow for a long time, or rather, there was snow, but it didn’t lie there for a long time - it melted. Mud, puddles, piercing wind and darkness - at four o'clock in the afternoon you need to turn on the lights!

I don’t like this time of year, the time of very late, prolonged autumn, and I always look forward to the cherished December 22nd, when the sun, as they say, turns to summer, and winter to frost. After the winter solstice, the days begin to gradually increase, and the nights begin to shorten, at first for just a minute, and then you see - in a month and an hour it will increase. But winter is coming into its own: frosts are cracking, snow is falling, and the twilight turns blue, almost purple...

Day and night... Change of light and darkness... The most ordinary, most constant, unchanging phenomenon of nature, it goes on forever in a routine manner. But why is this happening?

Once upon a time, in ancient times, not only children, but also adults asked themselves this question and did not find the correct answer to it. Millennia passed before man understood and explained this phenomenon.

Eternal companion of the Earth, surrounded romantic stories and scientific mysteries, - the Moon is shown with a fixed side 100% of the time. But why is it not visible? reverse side Moons, in theory, are contained mystical facts or is it easy to explain the process from the point of view of physics and astronomy?

How does turnover happen?

The Internet is full of photos and videos compiled from them throughout the year that show exactly how we see the Moon. The principles of celestial mechanics will help explain the phenomenon of one side of a cosmic body.

The planet rotates around its own axis and the Sun, and for the Moon the Earth becomes the “sun”. It rotates around its personal axis and the planet. The speed of a celestial body's orbit around the Earth corresponds 100% to the speed of rotation around its own axis.

This means that the Moon rotates 100% synchronously both around the planet and around its axis. This was not always the case, and the rotation process looked different at first. Under the influence of Earth's gravity and tides, the planet slowly adjusted the satellite to own characteristics. This is the reason why the far side of the Moon is not visible.

Practical example of rotation

To understand exactly how turnover occurs, you can conduct a small experiment:

1. Place a chair in the center of the room. This is Earth.
2. Stand at a distance arm's length and place your fingertips in the center of the object. You are the Moon.
3. Start moving so that your fingers don't move. Make a full circle.

Did you notice that you were with one side to the object during the experiment? This also happens with the Earth's satellite.

Do we see exactly half of it from Earth?

Full turn the celestial body takes only 27 days, 7 hours and 43.1 minutes of time. If you look at the video where the process is recorded for a whole year, it becomes clear that we see more than 50% of the Moon. On the opposite side, 41% of the surface remains inaccessible.

The satellite does not always rotate at the same speed. Lunar librations occur - when the satellite approaches the Earth at a minimum distance, the speed increases. As the lunar orbit gets further away, the speed slows down. It is also important to understand that they rotate celestial bodies along an ellipsoidal trajectory.

More than 4 billion years ago, the Earth and its satellite were formed, they rotated faster, and their speeds were different. Now big planet adjusted the little one for herself, and this main reason, why the far side of the Moon is not visible to the eye.

The moon is also called the goddess of the night. This is our silent neighbor, there is no life on it. It orbits the Earth at a distance of 384,400 kilometers (238.618 miles). A complete revolution of the Moon around the Earth takes 27 days and 12 hours. This fact is especially significant; it means that we will never be able to see the other side of the Moon. Scientists have calculated that the Moon should rotate around its axis much faster. But under the influence of the force of gravity, the speed of its rotation decreases, due to which the Moon’s own rotation is correlated with its movement around the Earth. This is why we always see only one side of the Moon.

The length of day and night on the Moon does not change. The lunar day lasts approximately 14 days, and the night lasts the same amount. During day and night on the Moon, the temperature changes greatly. It reaches about 120 degrees during the day and freezing temperatures at night. That is why the American astronauts who were the first to walk on the Moon had special suits - spacesuits that protected them from the heat.Neil Armstrong was the first to set foot on the moon. “This small step for man is a huge step for humanity,” he said as he descended on the surface of the Moon. This amazing event occurred on July 15, 1969. Millions of viewers could see it with their own eyes on television. Through satellite television lines, images from the Moon reached the most remote areas of the Earth.

Why is there no life on the Moon?

Now that man has carefully explored the surface of the Moon, he has learned a lot of interesting things about it. But man knew the fact that there is no life on the Moon long before he reached the Moon. The Moon has no atmosphere. Astronomers have established this because there is no twilight or sunset on the Moon. On Earth, night comes gradually because the air reflects the sun's rays even after sunset. On the Moon it is completely different: one moment it was light, and at one moment it was dark. The absence of an atmosphere means that the Moon is not protected from any solar radiation. The sun emits heat, light and radio waves. Life on Earth depends on this heat and light.

But the Sun also emits harmful radiation. The earth's atmosphere protects us from it. And on the Moon there is no atmosphere that could absorb this harmful radiation. And all the sun's rays, beneficial and harmful, safely reach the surface of the Moon.

Because there is no atmosphere, the surface of the Moon is either extremely hot or extremely cold. The Moon rotates, and the side facing the Sun becomes very hot. Temperatures can reach over 150 degrees Celsius. This is hot boiling water. A hot lunar day lasts two weeks.It is followed by night, which also lasts two weeks. At night the temperature drops to 125 degrees below zero. This is twice colder than the temperature observed at the North Pole.Under such conditions, none of the life forms known on Earth can exist.

Moon - natural satellite Earth, distant from it at a distance of about 384,000 km (239,000 miles). The moon is much lighter and smaller than Earth. It takes 29 days to revolve around the Earth. The Moon does not emit its own light, but only reflects the light of the Sun. As the Moon travels around the Earth, it appears to us in different forms. These various shapes we call the phases of the moon. They are obtained as a result of the fact that, as the Earth rotates around the Sun, it shades the Moon in different ways. The moon reflects different amounts of light depending on this.

The same side of the Moon always faces the Earth. Until 1959, when the Luna 3 satellite photographed the far side of the Moon, we did not know what its other hemisphere looked like.

The moon is made of solid rock. Thousands of craters are visible on its surface. There are vast, flat, dusty plains and high mountains. It is possible that the craters were formed from bubbles bursting in the lunar crust as a result of volcanic activity millions of years ago. In orbit around the Earth, the Moon is held by the force of gravity. The gravity on the Moon is 6 times less than on Earth. From time to time water earth's oceans rushes towards the Moon. This causes hot flashes.

Now that people have already visited the Moon, they have a concrete idea of ​​the Earth’s satellite and, accordingly, can plan the construction of stations on this planet. Of course, living conditions there are quite difficult. The surface of the Moon is literally pitted with huge craters, there are also quite high mountains, large seas of frozen volcanic lava. Once upon a time there were volcanic eruptions on the Moon, but today they are no longer active. The seas and the inner surface of the craters are covered with a thick layer of dust. There is no air, no water, no animals, no plants. Not a sound can be heard on the Moon, since sounds travel thanks to air molecules. Therefore, people need a special spacesuit to move on the Moon. Human habitations on the Moon must be absolutely sealed, like bathyscaphes for underwater research. Everything that is necessary to maintain life, right down to the air itself, must be delivered from the Earth.

And beautiful, it has attracted the eyes of astronomers since ancient times. Even then, many of its features were noticed: phase changes, sunrise and sunset times, the duration of the lunar month. Ancient scientists also noticed the constancy of the face of the night star. True, in those days they did not ask the question of why the Moon turned one side to the Earth. For them, this was the only possible position, fully consistent with the prevailing beliefs about the structure of the sky.

Today things are a little different. Our ideas about the movement and interaction of space objects, supported by numerous observations, are very different from those that existed in ancient times. And almost everyone knows from school why the Moon is turned to the Earth on one side.

The beginning of the story

Today, one of the secrets that the Moon stubbornly refuses to reveal to us is its origin. Various studies conducted to obtain a definitive answer to this question have so far given rise to several versions. According to one of them, the Moon and Earth are sisters, formed at approximately the same time from a common protoplanetary cloud. This is supported by the results of radioisotope analysis, which made it possible to determine the same age of two cosmic bodies. However, there is also evidence indicating large differences in the composition of our planet and its satellite. A version has been put forward to match them: the Moon was formed somewhere far in space and, approaching the Earth, was captured by it. Close to it is the hypothesis that suggests that several cosmic objects were attracted, which after some time collided and formed the Moon. Finally, there is a theory according to which our planet is more like a mother for its satellite: the Moon appeared as a result of the collision of the Earth with a huge body. The knocked out part subsequently began to rotate in orbit around the “progenitor”.

Satellite-planet system

Be that as it may, all that is known for certain is that the Moon is a natural satellite of the Earth. According to astronomical data, the night star at the time of its formation was located much closer to our planet. Moreover, it flew around the Earth faster and turned first one way or the other. This situation is typical for initial stage evolution of the satellite-planet system. An example of the result of the development of such “relationships” is Pluto and its accompanying Charon. Both cosmic bodies always turn the same side to each other, their rotation is synchronized. But first things first.

Tidal acceleration

The young Moon immediately began to affect the Earth. This was expressed in the formation of tidal waves in the newly formed oceans, as well as in the crust. This effect has two main consequences. Firstly, as a result of certain features and its rotation, the tidal wave is ahead of the Moon. The entire mass of our planet contained in such waves, in turn, affects the satellite, gives it acceleration, and the Moon begins to move faster, gradually moving away from the Earth. Secondly, in this process an oppositely directed force appears, inhibiting the movement of the continents. As a result, the speed of rotation of the Earth around its axis decreases, and the length of the day increases.

The Moon is moving away from our planet by about 4 cm per year. However, this is not an eternal process, and the probability of the Earth losing its satellite is negligible. The “escape” of the Moon will end at the moment when the rotation of the Earth around its axis is synchronized with the movement of the satellite in orbit. In this case, our planet will always look at the night star with the same side.

Similar process

It is easy to assume that the answer to the question of why the Moon is turned to the Earth on one side is associated with a similar phenomenon. Indeed, the Earth causes similar tidal waves in the bowels of the satellite. Since our planet is more massive, the force of its impact is much more noticeable. Obeying her, the Moon has long synchronized its rotation with its movement around the Earth. As a result, an always visible and invisible side of the Moon appeared.

A little more than half

An attentive amateur astronomer can quickly discover that the face of the night star does change somewhat. Visible side The moon does not occupy exactly half of it. The orbit of the night star deviates from the plane of rotation of the Earth around the Sun (ecliptic) by approximately 5º. In addition, its axis is shifted by 1.5º relative to the trajectory of the Moon. As a result, up to 6.5º above and below the poles of the satellite are available for observation. This process is called lunar latitude libration. The satellite's longitude fluctuates in a similar way. It is caused by a change in the speed of the Moon depending on the distance to the Earth. Due to this, the part of the satellite hidden from view is reduced, and the other side of the Moon, illuminated, increases to 7º longitude. So it turns out that in total Up to 59% of the lunar surface can be observed.

In the distant future

So, the question of why the Moon always faces the Earth with one side finds an answer in the peculiarities of the influence of the planet’s gravitational force on the satellite. However, as was said, a similar process after a certain time will lead to the fact that the Earth will look at the night star with only one part of it, regardless of what phase the Moon is in. According to the calculations of John Darwin, the grandson of the founder of the theory of evolution, the length of the day at this moment will be equal to fifty days familiar to us. The distance separating the Earth and the Moon will increase by about one and a half times. This will be the same perfect condition satellite-planet systems.

Solar tides

There is, however, some probability that the Moon will never be destined to reach sufficient distance. The reason for this possibility lies in solar tides. The daylight has a similar effect to the moon on both the planet and the satellite. If we include this fact in the theoretical construction of the future of the two cosmic bodies, it turns out that at a certain distance from the Earth the Moon will begin to approach again. This reduction in distance will have devastating consequences. When the Moon is at a distance of 2.9 it will be torn apart by gravitational forces.

One more “but”

However, this picture may not be realized. The fact is that according to forecasts, the removal of the Moon, then its approach and, finally, death will take several trillion years. During this time, a catastrophe on a more serious scale may occur, at least for all life on the planet. The Sun will go out, having exhausted all its reserves of stellar fuel. Following this, all the conditions of interaction in the planetary system of the star will change.

Study

The other side of the Moon, inaccessible to direct observation, long time was a mystery, literally shrouded in darkness. It only gave me the opportunity to get to know her better. The first aircraft to photograph about 70% of the surface of the hidden part was the Soviet Luna 3. The images transmitted to Earth showed that the relief of the reverse side was somewhat different from the nature of the visible surface. There were practically no plains of seas here. Only two such formations were discovered, later named the Sea of ​​Moscow and the Sea of ​​Dreams.

Giant crater

In 1965, the Zond-3 spacecraft headed towards the Moon. He completed filming the invisible part of the satellite. The image of the remaining 30% of the surface only confirmed the earlier conclusions: the surface in this part is covered with craters and mountains, but there are practically no seas on it.

The most impressive size is one of the craters, located precisely on the dark side of the Moon. Its length is 2250 km and its depth is 12 km.

Hypotheses

Today the mysteries have largely been solved. However, it is common for the human mind to fantasize about those things and phenomena that are inaccessible to direct observation. Therefore, on the Internet it is easy to come across the most bizarre hypotheses related to the entire Moon as a whole or only to its hidden side. There are assumptions about the artificial origin of the satellite, its population by extraterrestrial intelligence and the deliberate concealment of one of the parties. There are also references to a mysterious space base located on the dark part of the satellite. Such versions are quite difficult to both confirm and refute. No matter how true or false they may be, they are based on the same reason that prompted people to explore space: the hope of finding fellow humans in the vast expanses of the Universe, the desire to touch the unknown.

However, today it is known quite precisely why the Moon is turned to the Earth on one side. And the assumption of artificial origin did not receive any serious continuation. The answer to this question became as obvious as the understanding of what phase the Moon is in today and why. It is impossible, however, to say that we know everything about the earth’s satellite and no discoveries are expected in the future. On the contrary, the night luminary matches the ancient deities who personified it, remains mysterious and is in no hurry to share secrets. Humanity still has to learn a lot of interesting things about the satellite of our planet. Maybe, new stage The study that began quite recently will bear fruit in the near future. It is absolutely certain that the implementation of some NASA projects is of great importance in this sense. Among them is Avatar, which consists of developing a telepresence suit. It will allow, while on Earth, to conduct experiments on the Moon with the help of robots. Great hopes are also placed on the colonization project, the implementation of which will result in the placement of a scientific base on the satellite of our planet.

The constant satellite of our planet not only makes us think about the eternal, but also gives us food for thought. Why do we see only one side of the Moon if all celestial bodies rotate around their axis? Maybe this is part of some kind of conspiracy, and on the other side of the satellite there is some kind of secret alien base or traces of colonization by an ancient civilization?

How did the Moon appear?

The Moon is a massive body caught in the Earth's gravity zone. Exists several theories of its origin:

• Was captured by gravity several billion years ago.
• It was formed as a result of the combination of several hundred meteorites that fell under the influence of gravity.
• It is a part of the earth's crust that broke off as a result of a collision with a meteorite.

Today, a very popular theory is that Once there was a collision between the Earth and a small planet with an unstable orbit.

According to another version, the culprit of the cataclysm is a meteorite that passed “tangentially” and directly knocked off part of the earth’s crust.

In the first case, the Moon must represent a part of this very planet. In the second - part of the surface of our planet, under the influence of centrifugal force, formed into a sphere.

The whole problem is that we are talking about events that took place billions of years ago. Now we cannot talk with confidence about events that took place a thousand years ago, let alone such colossal periods.

Why doesn't the moon fall to the earth?

The Moon simultaneously rotates both around the Earth and around its own orbit. As a result, two forces interact:

Thanks to the interaction of two forces, our " eternal companion"can't fly away from us. But it also cannot fall to the surface of the planet, for exactly the same reasons.

If one day this state of balance is disrupted, a terrible cataclysm may occur. But we are talking about cosmic quantities; no person has the power to influence them. At least at the current level of development of science.

Thanks to this pleasant coincidence, the Earth has a satellite. And thanks to another coincidence, in the form of an identical period of rotation around the planet and around its axis, we only see the “bright” side of the moon.

Why does the moon glow at night?

But why is the side facing us always “bright”? After all, the Moon does not have its own luminary that would illuminate it according to some schedule.

And in order to delve into the further description, it is better remember the school physics course:

1. The sun's rays can be reflected from surfaces.
2. After reflection, the angle of propagation of the rays changes.
3. Despite contact with the surface, the reflected light travels further.
4. The number of rays that will continue their path depends on the ability to reflect.

At night, the Earth turns the other side to the Sun, so in our hemisphere it begins dark time days. But nothing prevents the Moon from contacting the nearest star.

Direct sunlight hits its surface. Some of it remains there, their energy goes to heating the lunar soil. No wonder its temperature can exceed a hundred degrees.

But a small part of the rays is reflected from the surface and directed towards us. Thanks to this phenomenon, there is another source of light in the night sky.

Why don't they fly to the moon anymore?

The second half of the last century was marked by real hysteria, into which the two powers were drawn. It's about "moon race" , when Americans and Soviet citizens were striving for the same goal - to be the first to land on the moon.

The USA unconditionally won this competition, which is more offensive - not a single Soviet cosmonaut ever set foot on the surface of our satellite. This is despite the fact that “ dark side“Humanity first saw it precisely thanks to the apparatus made and launched in the Union.

But decades pass, and no one really aspires to the Moon anymore.

This is motivated by a number of reasons:

• Lack of funding.
• Basic experiments and research have already been carried out.
• There is enough surface data to be processed for the coming decades.
• Flights are extremely expensive.
• There is no one else to compete with and thus prove your superiority.

Some of the arguments sound pretty plausible. But, on the other hand, more than one, not even two expeditions were sent to the Moon. There were more of them. And then everything stopped. And no other country tried to land to get another reason to be proud.

Tacit agreement seems to be All countries in the world were able to agree on one issue. Maybe somewhere out there, at a distance of about 300 thousand kilometers, there really was contact with something unknown and humanity was opaquely hinted at what further research would entail?

These are just conspiracy theories, but after a jerk to the side, all countries “turned on the back foot” and stopped so actively developing their space programs. Perhaps we really are not welcome there.

The invisible side of the moon

The lunar cycle is 28 days, almost everyone remembers this. The problem is that 28 days fit both periods of rotation - around the Earth and its own axis. It's such a coincidence, but because of it, we are forced to constantly observe only one half of the celestial body.

Due to the current situation, a person will never be able to see the “dark side” while on the surface of the Earth. In fact, it sounds like a challenge. And it will be nice to know that humanity passed this test with dignity.

Thanks to unmanned expeditions, we have photographs and detailed maps that “invisible” half. From the point of view of “science for science’s sake,” this is an unprecedented achievement, but if you think about practical application received data.

True, there is one positive point . We made sure that there was no alien space fleet lurking behind the Moon, that its surface was not dotted with someone’s bases. This is a consolation for paranoids and dreamers.

Over natural phenomena I’m either too lazy to think about it or don’t have time for it. And why we see only one side of the Moon, and why the seasons change - all this was once explained, but too long ago.

Video about the position and rotation of the moon

After watching this video, you will understand why the Moon always faces the earth with the same side: