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Yes, the moon rotates. So why don’t we ever see the far side?

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by Jeremy Tanner - 04/06/26 9:45 PM ET

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by Jeremy Tanner - 04/06/26 9:45 PM ET

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(NEXSTAR) – With Artemis II’s historic mission to the moon capturing the nation’s attention, some may be wondering why the far side of the moon remains hidden from view – even as it rotates.

Also commonly referred to as the “dark side of the moon,” as any fan of Pink Floyd’s music would tell you, the side hidden from Earth’s residents isn’t actually any darker. The moon, like Earth, has a light side and dark side, which changes as the moon rotates.

So why does one half never face Earth?

“The same side of the Moon always faces an earthbound observer because the Moon’s orbital period is the same as its rotation around its axis,” NASA explains.

Simply put, the moon is rotating at the same speed that it rotates around the Earth, so the same side continually faces our planet.

While the far side of the moon was first captured in 1959 by the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft, the astronauts aboard Artemis II made history Monday when they became the first to see certain parts of the lunar surface with the naked eye.

Artemis II breaks distance record Monday

Less than an hour before kicking off the fly-around and intense lunar observations on Monday, the four Artemis II astronauts – three Americans and one Canadian – surpassed the distance record of 248,655 miles (400,171 kilometers) set by Apollo 13 in April 1970.

They kept going, hurtling ever farther from Earth. Before it was all over, Mission Control expected Artemis II to beat the old record by more than 4,101 miles (6,600 kilometers).

“It is blowing my mind what you can see with the naked eye from the moon right now. It is just unbelievable,” Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen radioed ahead of the flyby. He challenged “this generation and the next to make sure this record is not long-lived.”

Artemis II is using the same maneuver that Apollo 13 did after its “Houston, we’ve had a problem” oxygen tank explosion wiped out any hope of a moon landing.

Known as a free-return lunar trajectory, this no-stopping-to-land route takes advantage of Earth and the moon’s gravity, reducing the need for fuel. It’s a celestial figure-eight that will put the astronauts on course for home, once they emerge from behind the moon Monday evening.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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