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video credit: NASA, LRO, Arizona State University




no one, presently, sees the Moon rotate like this

that's because the Earth's moon is tidally locked to the Earth, showing us only one side

given modern digital technology, however, combined with many detailed images returned by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO), a high resolution virtual Moon rotation movie has been composed

the featured time-lapse video starts with the standard Earth view of the Moon

quickly, though, Mare Orientale, a large crater with a dark center that is difficult to see from the Earth, rotates into view just below the equator

from an entire lunar month condensed into 24 seconds, the video clearly shows that the Earth side of the Moon contains an abundance of dark lunar maria, while the lunar far side is dominated by bright lunar highlands

currently, over 19 new missions to the Moon are under active development from eight different countries, most of which have expected launch dates in the next three years






































































in apod.nasa.gov/apod