What is on the other side of the moon? What lowland is on the other side of the moon? What is the sea on the other side of the moon?

In one thousand nine hundred and fifty-nine, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics for the first time in the world showed people what is on the other side of the moon. The photographs were taken from the automatic interplanetary station "Luna-3" (Lunik-3). In space, the spacecraft was launched on October 4 with the help of the Vostok-L rocket.

Attention! I'm shooting!

Unique images of the AMC "sent" at three o'clock in the morning on October 7, 1959. The signal was received by the Simeiz Observatory (now part of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory). Types of the "invisible side of the moon", transferred to Earth, overcame a distance of 483 thousand kilometers.

Peering into the vague pictures, many guessed "on the spots": what is on the other side of the moon? Yes, the quality of the images left much to be desired, but they were produced! The leader of research in the USSR was given the right to name objects open on the surface of the nearest satellite.

The whole world has learned what kind of sea is on the other side of the Moon - Moscow. Part of it, deep into the land, was called the Gulf of Astronauts. A crater of about 60 miles (96.5 km) from it received the name of Professor Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the pioneer of astronautics, who died in 1935. The ridge near the equator sounded proud as the Soviet. A dark spot near the border of the visible and invisible parts of the Moon became the Sea of Dreams. Eight basic forms were identified.

Relative monotony

Chairman of the Astronomical Council of the Academy of Sciences Professor Alexander Mikhailov (1888-1983), speaking on the Moscow radio, noted the relative monotony of the far side of the moon. He suggested that astronomers and geologists should explain the phenomenon, which, no doubt, is connected with the question of the origin of the relief of the Moon.

In total, from 6 to 7 October, the camera of the Luna-3 automatic interplanetary station made 29 photographs. All equipment, including video, worked both under the control of signals from the Earth, and from the supply of on-board devices. The shooting time was chosen taking into account the position of the Sun. Ready for the photo session AMC was between the luminary and the moon. Then managed to remove 70 percent of the hidden from the eyes of human territory.

Before that, two more launches were being carried out: the satellite "Luna-1" flew by and disappeared into the open space. "Luna-2" fell to the surface of the "queen of the night". With the help of these stations of a not too complicated structure, functions such as the output of apparatus for interplanetary orbits, methods of maintaining radio communications, etc. were done. All was done to help them with confidence to tell humanity what is on the other side The moon.

The secret is revealed

"Luna-3" had a fundamentally new design: the equipment with orienting devices would now probably be called the "Glonass system"; Solar panels worked on the AMC. The launch date was timed to coincide with the anniversary of the flight of the first artificial Earth satellite, which entered October 4, 1957, orbit. A real revolution in the study of the cosmos, made by the great country of the USSR, took place.

"Teaching" the satellite to record what is on the far side of the moon, the photo scientists wanted to get much more than 29 pieces. By the way, from different ways of photographing the image, though not very high-quality, was obtained only from the camera with a running beam. Having sent the first series of priceless "portraits", the station suddenly stopped sending information.

This happened, most likely, due to the fact that during the transfer of information the batteries were discharged (or, perhaps, there was a collision with a meteorite?). Probably, the device was burnt in the atmosphere in the spring of 1960 (but could exist until 1962). However, the mystery was already revealed.

Rotation

Why is the planet always visible from the Earth only on one side? Because of this, it is impossible to know what is on the other side of the moon! The reason lies in the fact that Selena is making a turn around the Earth for the same time that the Earth turns around its axis. The axial and orbital rotation is 27.3 days. The synchronization of the movement took place about 4 billion years ago.

As for the expression "the dark side of the moon," it is figurative (invisible, hence covered in darkness). In fact, the Sun illuminates our "romantic neighbor" from all sides evenly. Once it was believed that the synchronism of the rotation of the Earth and the Moon - a unique phenomenon.

Recent research has proved that practically all the major satellites of planets are treated in this way. They are addressed to their "mistresses" by one side. This indicates a regularity characteristic of nature, the general laws of development that operate in the universe. Their violation can lead to unpredictable consequences.

There are few seas

The reverse side of the moon, what is there? Seas! Many thought so. After all, on visible people, parts of the "serpent" are not counted as such! They, of course, do not look like earthly ones - these are huge ancient lava flows. On the back they are much smaller, although it would seem that the spaces should extend over the entire surface of the planet, as if encircling it (Franz's theory).

Moreover, the seas of Moscow opened in 1959 (occupying the territory of the Moscow region) and the Dreams are very modest in size. Researchers were amazed: is the landscape of the parties so different? Why?

In order to find answers, a deeper study of the question was required. Studies continued in 1965. The "Zond-3" station went to the lunar surface. With her automatic "gaze" she rated previously not covered spaces, the same 30 percent. The asymmetry of the sides was fully confirmed.

There are many mountains and craters

So, the "face" of Selena is dominated by the sea, and what's on the other side of the moon? There are mountains and craters. The lack of similarity is explained by the theory of two moons, the peaceful coexistence of which ended in the fact that the little one crashed into the big one.

After complex processing of photographic materials of two surveys of the reverse side of the Moon, it was firmly established that the light areas on the visible "half" (they are the same - the northern and southern continents) are closed on the back. This means that there is a single continental shield. Sea - is a substance inside the continents, filling the deepest and deepest depressions of the cortex of the Moon.

Returning to the illumination of the riddle of nature - Selena, it is worth noting that there are also nooks where it is always dark. For example, such deep craters that the sun's rays never reach their bottom. It is possible that in the eternal darkness there were accumulated huge deposits of ice, which earthmen could qualify as NZ (inviolable reserve).

The Lunar Observatory

It is possible that in natural containers it would be possible to store air and rocket fuel reserves. The far side of the Moon is naturally protected from the radio waves of the Earth - a very good place to set up a radiosensitive observatory to investigate shaded craters.

And here is the answer to the question about which lowland is on the other side of the Moon? Southwestern! So, in some publications the crater pool of the South Pole is Aitken. The most amazing cup-shaped depression in the surface of Selena - the crater Aitken, looks like a mountain chain. It has a relatively flat bottom, surrounded by a ring-shaped raised shaft. The object stretches for 2250 kilometers, the depth in different places is 8-16 kilometers.

As for the priority of the Soviet Union in the name of the forms of the lunar relief, the great country has left the following names to the memory of the generations of earthmen: the craters: Kurchatov, Mendeleev, Popov, Sklodovskaya-Curie, Gagarin, Korolev, etc. Well, the seas of Moscow, Dreams.