Things you need to know about the Moon and the Artemis II mission

After the success of the lunar flyby yesterday, Monday, the Orion spacecraft began its return trip to Earth today, Tuesday, at 1:25 p.m. Eastern Coast Time of the United States and Canada, the spacecraft formally left the sphere of gravitational influence of the Moon. During the passage through the far side, the crew reached the maximum distance that humans have reached outside the Earth, reaching 406,762 km, surpassing by more than 6,600 km the historical mark of the Apollo 13 in 1970.

During their flyby, in addition to seeing a part of the hidden side, they used the high-definition cameras of their ship to capture new details of very interesting regions, such as the eastern basin, and they also took a spectacular photo of the dawn of the Earth over the horizon of the Moon. What do you want me to tell you? We have been discovering more than 6,000 exoplanets and the Earth is still the most beautiful planet in the universe, it is beautiful, poetic, but there is a curious point that few know, seeing the sunrise or sunset of the Earth from the Moon could only be done if you are in a spacecraft that is orbiting the Moon. Because if you were standing on the lunar surface, you would see the earth always fixed in the sky, that is if you were in the visible hemisphere, visible from the Earth, because if you were in the hidden hemisphere, you would never see the Earth.

There are many curiosities that our only natural satellite has, but with the Artemis mission that is being carried out, it is good to remember several things, first, what is really the hidden side and what is the visible side of the Moon? The differences are seen in the composite photo, the most notable thing is that the visible side has large seas, the hidden side does not.

Why are these two hemispheres so different? There are good theories, but it is a matter that is a matter of debate and research, but in general and the most accepted is that both sides have had different conditions in their formation, the hidden side does not receive the radiation emitted by the Earth, while the visible side does, this made the visible side have much harder extracts, which is why it has many more spots than the hidden side.

Second, which humans were the first to see the far side of the moon with their own eyes? Obviously, the astronauts on the Apollo missions were the first to see it, although not in its entirety, because they were there when large areas of the far side were in darkness. But the astronauts on the Artemis 2 mission didn’t see it in its entirety either; we could only see about 21% of it, since most of the far side is in darkness.

Third, the Orion spacecraft from the Artemis 2 mission passed much farther from the Moon than the spacecraft from the Apollo missions. The Apollo spacecraft flew over the Moon at a distance of about 110 km, except for Apollo 10, which flew at more than double that distance; however, the Artemis 2 Orion spacecraft passed at a distance of more than 6,000 km from the Moon.

And let me clarify: there is no “dark side”; that term is a misnomer. The far side receives sunlight—the same amount of sunlight and for the same duration as the side we see from Earth. A lunar day lasts approximately 29.5 Earth days.

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