On October 7, 1959, the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft took the first picture of the far side of the Moon.
When it was sent into space in October 1959 from Kazakhstan’s Baikonur Cosmodrome, Luna 3 was the third spacecraft to reach orbit and the first to send back pictures of the Moon’s far side. Even though the pictures were noisy and hard to make out because the Moon always shows the same side to Earth, they gave us a new look at the Moon, which was a big deal.
The difference between the far side and the near side of the Moon is surprising. In pictures from Luna 3, a big part of the near side of the moon does not have Marias, which are large, dark seas of cool lava. On the other side, there are impact craters of all sizes and ages.
One of the first pictures ever taken of the far side of the Moon.
The AFA-E1 camera took 40 pictures on 35mm Isochrome film that can withstand radiation and extreme temperatures. It was supposed to take a picture of the whole Moon’s disk with a 200mm objective and a picture of a part of the moon’s surface with a 500mm objective. It was aimed by turning the ship while keeping the camera still.
From the far side of the moon, this amazing 360-degree circular panorama clearly shows the lander, the rover’s shadow, and the impact crater. Cheng’e 4. CLEP/Lunar and Planetary Multimedia Database
Between 3:30 and 4:10 UTC on October 7, 1959, a total of 29 pictures were taken. These pictures showed 70% of the far side and were taken between 63,500 and 66,700 kilometers above the surface. There were either 17 or 12 pictures sent to Earth, but only 6 were made public (images 26, 28, 29, 31, 32, and 35). With these pictures, people saw the Moon’s dark side for the first time.
In June 2009, the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) was sent into space from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida. It had been in the works for 50 years. With the help of LRO’s amazing global elevation maps and Luna 3’s photo mosaics, it is possible to accurately recreate the view that Luna 3 saw.