Friday, February 13th, 2009

Far Side of the Moon

Far side of the moon, as seen by Apollo 16 mapping camera. Apollo 16 crew / NASA

We'll check in on the progress of a Japanese lunar orbiter, and what it's teaching scientists about the far side of our moon. New research published this week in the journal Science uses data from the Kaguya mission (formerly known as SELENE) to examine the differences between the near and far sides of the Moon.

The side of the Moon facing Earth is covered with smooth, dark volcanic rock, lying at low elevations. The moon's far side mainly consists of older, heavily cratered highlands. Researchers analyzing data collected by the orbiter are trying to explain the forces that led to that difference, and what it means about the moon's formation.