In one thousand nine hundred and fifty-nineFor the first time in the world, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics showed people what is on the far side of the moon. The photographs were taken from the Luna-3 automatic interplanetary station (Lunik-3). The spacecraft was launched into the airless space on October 4 with the help of the Vostok-L launch vehicle.
Attention! I rented!
Уникальные изображения АМС «прислала» в три часа Nights October 7, 1959. The signal was received by the Simeis Observatory (now part of the Crimean Astrophysical Observatory). The types of the “invisible side of the moon” transmitted to Earth covered a distance of 483 thousand kilometers.
Peering at vague shots, many guessed"On the spots": what is on the far side of the moon? Yes, the quality of the images left much to be desired, but they were mined! The leader of the USSR research received the right to name the objects discovered on the surface of the nearest satellite.
The whole world found out which sea is in reverseside of the moon - Moscow. Its part, which penetrates deep into the land, was called the Astronaut Gulf. A crater about 60 miles (96.5 km) from him received the name of Professor Konstantin Tsiolkovsky, the pioneer of cosmonautics, who died in 1935. The mountain range near the equator sounded proudly like the Soviet one. A dark spot near the border of the visible and invisible parts of the Moon became the sea of Dreams. Eight basic forms were identified.
Relative monotony
Chairman of the Astronomical Council of the AcademyProfessor Alexander Mikhailov (1888-1983), speaking on the Moscow radio, noted the relative monotony of the far side of the moon. He suggested that astronomers and geologists have to explain the phenomenon, which, no doubt, is associated with the question of the origin of the relief of the moon.
Total from October 6 to 7, the automatic camerathe interplanetary station "Luna-3" took 29 photographs. All the equipment, including video, worked, both under the control of signals from the Earth, and from the supply of onboard devices. The shooting time was chosen taking into account the position of the sun. Ready for the photo session, AMC was between the luminary and the moon. Then managed to remove 70 percent of the hidden from the eyes of human territory.
Before that, two more launches were carried out:the satellite "Luna-1" flew past and disappeared into outer space. "Luna-2" fell to the surface of the "Queen of the Night." With the help of these stations of a not too complex structure, functions such as the output of spacecraft to interplanetary orbits, methods of maintaining radio communications, etc. were worked out. Everything was done so that they could be used to tell mankind with confidence about what is on the reverse The moon
The secret is revealed
"Luna-3" had a fundamentally new design:equipping orientation devices now, probably, would be called the “Glonass system”; solar batteries worked on AMC. The launch date was timed to the anniversary of the flight of the first artificial satellite of the Earth, which went into orbit on October 4, 1957. There was a real revolution in space exploration, made a great country of the USSR.
“Teaching” the satellite to fix what is onthe back of the moon, photo scientists wanted to get much more than 29 pieces. By the way, from different ways of photographing an image, albeit not very high-quality, could only be obtained from a camera with a running beam. Having sent the first series of priceless "portraits", the station suddenly stopped transmitting information.
This is most likely due to the fact thatthe time of the transfer of information, the batteries were discharged (or maybe a collision with a meteorite occurred?). Probably, the device burned down in the atmosphere in the spring of 1960 (but it could have survived until 1962). However, the mystery has already been revealed.
Unanimous rotation
Why is the planet visible from Earth always with onlyone side? Because of this, it is impossible to find out what is on the far side of the moon! The reason is that Selena makes a round around the Earth in the same time that the Earth turns around its axis. Axial and orbital rotation is 27.3 days. Synchronization of movement occurred about 4 billion years ago.
As for the expression “dark side of the moon”,it is figurative (invisible, therefore, covered with darkness). In fact, the Sun illuminates our "romantic neighbor" on all sides evenly. It was once believed that the synchronism of the rotation of the Earth and the Moon is a unique phenomenon.
Recent studies have proven:almost all the major satellites of the planets are turning this way. They are addressed to their "mistresses" by one side. This speaks of a pattern characteristic of nature, the general laws of development in force in the Universe. Their violation can lead to unpredictable consequences.
Little seas
The far side of the moon, what is there? Seas!Many thought that way. After all, on the visible part of the "serpasta" those do not count! Of course, they are not like the earth - they are huge ancient lava flows. On the back there are much fewer of them, although it would seem that the spaces should extend across the entire surface of the planet, as if girding it (Franz's theory).
Moreover, the seas of Moscow opened in 1959 (occupying the territory from the Moscow region) and Dreams are very modest in size. The researchers were amazed: Is the landscape of the parties so different? Why?
To find the answers, it took moredeep study of the issue. Research continued in 1965. Zond-3 station went to the lunar surface. With her automatic “gaze”, she estimated the previously uncovered spaces, the same 30 percent. Asymmetry of the sides is fully confirmed.
Mountains and craters are many
So, on the “face” of Selena, the seas dominate, and whaton the far side of the moon? There are dominated by mountains and craters. The dissimilarity of some is explained by the theory of two moons, the peaceful coexistence of which ended in the fact that the small one crashed into a large one.
После комплексной обработки фотоматериалов двух filming the back of the moon firmly established that the bright areas on the visible "half" (they are the northern and southern continents) are closed on the reverse. This means that there is a single continental shield. The sea is a substance inside the continents, filling the deepest and most extensive depressions of the Moon's crust.
Returning to the illumination of the riddle of nature -Selena, it is worth noting that there are nooks where it is always dark. For example, such deep craters that the sun's rays never reach their bottom. It is possible that in the eternal darkness accumulated huge deposits of ice, which earthlings could qualify as NZ (emergency reserve).
Moon Observatory
Не исключено, что в природных емкостях можно было to store air and rocket fuel. The far side of the moon is naturally protected from the radio waves of the earth — a very good place to set up a radio-sensitive observatory to explore shaded craters.
But the answer to the question of what a lowlandis on the far side of the moon? Southwest! Thus, in some publications, the South Pole - Aitken crater basin. The most spectacular cup-shaped indentation in the surface of Selena, the Aitken crater, looks like a mountain range. It has a relatively flat bottom, surrounded by a ring-shaped raised shaft. The object stretches for 2250 kilometers, the depth in different places is 8-16 kilometers.
As for the priority of the Soviet Union inthen the great country left for memory to generations of earthmen the following names: craters: Kurchatov, Mendeleev, Popov, Sklodovskaya-Curie, Gagarin, Korolev, etc. Well, and the seas of Moscow, Dreams.
