darksideofthemoon
Latest
China plans to visit the dark side of the moon in 2018
The dark side of the moon hasn't been extensively explored by humans yet (hence the name), and China aims to do so in 2018. The country's State Administration of Science, Technology and Industry for National Defense (SASTIND) announced plans Thursday that include landing the first probe in the area. That spacecraft, the Chang'e-4, is similar to the Chang'e-3 that delivered the Jade Rabbit rover to the moon in 2013, but carries a larger payload. In early 2014, the rover was no longer able to move despite its instruments still functioning.
NASA films dark side of the moon, finds no evidence of Brain Damage (video)
Take a moment to Breathe, because this one's kind of heady. NASA has just published a new video of the Dark Side of the Moon and, contrary to popular belief, it's not really all that dark. (We'd probably describe it as a subdued gray, if we had to, but feel free to go with Any Colour You Like.) Compiled into a 30-second video clip, this footage provides a cursory glimpse of the moon's hind parts (its "B-Side," if you will), panning over the rock from north to south, in all its crater-y glory. It's all part of an initiative from NASA's Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL), which presumably spent a lot of Time and Money to build its twin spacecraft, nicknamed Ebb and Flow. On January 19th, the lab sent the pair up to that Great Gig in the Sky, as part of the GRAIL MoonKAM mission -- a "progressive" educational outreach program geared toward middle school students. Ebb was charged with filmic duties, and did a remarkable job of shooting On the Run with its MoonKAM camera, returning high res footage to NASA's engineers, and giving both Us and Them something to think about during the next lunar Eclipse. See the video (along with its eerily sync-able counterpart) after the break, and if you've got any questions about it, please don't hesitate to Speak to Me.
