In This View of the Moon, the Near Side (the Hemisphere We...
(April 6, 2026) - In this view of the Moon, the near side (the hemisphere we see from Earth), is visible at the top half of the Moon disk. It is identifiable by the dark splotches. These are ancient lava flows from a time early in the Moon’s history when it was volcanically active. The large crater that appears below the lava flows, dark in the center, is Orientale basin, a nearly 600-mile-wide crater that straddles the Moon’s near and far sides as is partly visible from Earth on the edge of the Moon. In this image, we have a full view of the crater. Everything below the crater is the far side, the hemisphere we don’t get to see from Earth because the Moon rotates on its axis at the same rate that it orbits round us.
Recommended Further Browsing
NASA astronaut Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot is assisted off the flight dec...
Artemis II
In this three minute exposure, NASA’s Space Launch System rocket carrying the...
Artemis II
NASA astronaut Victor Glover, Artemis II pilot shakes hands with Scott Tingle...
Artemis II
NASA’s Artemis II Space Launch System (SLS) rocket and Orion spacecraft, secu...
Artemis II