It took less than a week NASA Administrator Bill Nelson’s gaffe went viral on social media.
More than an hour into U.S. budget hearings space According to the agency, a lawmaker asked Nelson why China would send a probe to the “far side” of the moon.
“They’re going to put a lander on the far side of the moon, the side that’s always in darkness,” said Nelson, a former senator and astronaut. Public hearing on April 17th. “We have no plans to go there.”
The lawmaker continued, “We don’t know what’s on the other side of the moon.”
That was not true in two ways. Despite popular belief, the so-called far side of the Moon is not dark, nor is it completely unknown to American scientists.
NASA is back on the moon. Here’s what that means:
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What is the dark side of the moon?
The far side is the moon’s hemisphere facing away from the Earth. That part was once called the “dark side” because it was never seen by humans. This confusing misconception has led many people to mistakenly believe that the other side is shrouded in darkness. In reality, it receives just as much light as the side in front of you.
Perhaps the actual “dark” places on the moon are: Where NASA plans to send Artemis astronauts A region in the far south that scientists believe is filled with icy water. The southern part is pockmarked with frigid, shadowy craters.
The far side is the moon’s hemisphere facing away from the Earth.
Credit: NASA/NOAA
Why can we only see one side of the moon?
It takes about a month until the full moon, approximately 250,000 miles away, orbiting the earth. It takes the same amount of time for the moon to go around its axis. Thanks to this coincidence, Earthlings always see the same surface of the moon.
Before space exploration began, many speculated that the other side was a frozen, eerie realm, and this myth was popularized in Pink Floyd’s trippy 1973 album Dark Side of the Moon. ” perpetuated by.
surely the other side It remained a mystery to humanity until October 1959. That’s when the Soviet space program launched its Luna 3 probe around the moon. The spacecraft returned some grainy images, resulting in strangely different surfaces Compared to the familiar one in the foreground.
mashable light speed
About half a century later, NASA lunar reconnaissance orbiter Explore the area from space. Since then, the rover has beamed tons of data back home, allowing scientists to create detailed maps of the underside.
The Soviet space program launched the Luna 3 probe around the moon in October 1959.
Credit: Luna 3 / Russian Space Agency / NSSDCA
What does it look like on the other side?
What scientists have learned is that the aspects that humans cannot see are very different.
On the near side there are large black spots resembling a face known as the “man in the moon”, but on the other side these spots are almost absent.of The spots are called maria, a dark region formed when a meteorite hit the moon and lava appeared. The lava not only darkened the surface, but also erased previous craters that recorded part of the Moon’s geological history.
Meanwhile, the other side is covered with more craters of various sizes and depths, including the huge Antarctic Aitken Basin.
During the space race between NASA and the Soviet Union, spacecraft never landed on the invisible side. Part of the reason is how difficult is it. The moon itself cuts off communications between mission controllers on Earth and the far side. But in 2018, China installed a communications relay satellite that can exchange signals in space, about 40,000 miles from the moon.
The far side of the moon receives just as much light as the far side of the moon.
Credit: NASA/USRA/GSFC Visualization
Why will China go to the far side of the moon?
Returning to the April 17 House Appropriations Committee hearing, Rep. David Trone asked Nelson what caused this to happen. China is very interested in the Far Sidenot Antarctica.
“I don’t know,” Nelson said. However, he explained that the United States plans to go to the moon’s south pole. NASA suspects water It is preserved inside a dark crater. It is an important economic resource for future lunar exploration.
But scientists say there’s actually a lot to be gained from studying the other side of the world, where there may be a more primitive record. space collision and influence.
NASA’s Mooncam looks at the far side of the moon.
Credit: NASA / Caltech-JPL / MIT / SRS
On December 8, 2018, China launched the Chang’e 4 mission, becoming the first country to do so. land on the far side of the moon. The crash occurred in the Von Karman Crater in the Aitken Basin in Antarctica.
This basin is thought to have been formed by an asteroid impact a long time ago, and it is believed that part of the moon’s mantle (the material between the core and the crust) was excavated and brought to the surface as a result of that catastrophe. It is being The advantage of going to this location is that you may learn more about the moon’s internal composition.
According to what China has discovered Paper published in a diary scientific progress, the layer of soil there is much thicker than in the foreground. It was about 130 feet deep.
If the Earth’s crust was much thinner on the side facing Earth, that might explain why lava was able to break through and form Maria spots. However, it is unclear why the thickness of the crust in one hemisphere differs so much from the other.Chinese future mission It might help answer that question.
Solving these mysteries could not only tell us more about the evolution of the moon, but also provide further insight into the history of our solar system.
