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The Far Side of the Moon - And All the Way Around

3.11.11 - Because the moon is tidally locked (meaning the same

side always faces Earth), it was not until 1959 that the farside

was first imaged by the Soviet Luna 3 spacecraft. And what a

surprise - unlike the widespread maria on the nearside, basaltic

volcanism was restricted to a relatively few, smaller regions on

the farside, and the battered highlands crust dominated. A

different world from what we saw from Earth.

Of course, the cause of the farside/nearside asymmetry is an

interesting scientific question. Past studies have shown that the

crust on the farside is thicker, likely making it more difficult for 

magmas to erupt on the surface, limiting the amount of farside

mare basalts. Why is the farside crust thicker? That is still up for 

debate, and in fact several presentations at this week's Lunar 

and Planetary Science Conference attempt to answer this

question.

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LRO in the News

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NASA Invites Public to Take Virtual Walk on Moon

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