# Which side of the moon did we land on? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2002, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001 "2002-07-20T19:21:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Joey\_P](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/919ad9/32.png) [@Joey\_P](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Joey_P)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/21 "2002-07-22T23:23:14Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Chronos \* > \*\*On the other hand, Pink Floyd has gotten many a teenager and college student to go to planetaria to see laser shows (with a star show on the side). > > And if nothing else, the very fact that none of the other missions landed on the far side makes it interesting. Even if there were no a priori reason to expect differences, it’s nice to be sure. \*\* In addition to the college students, the show I went to was bringning in plenty of older people who could probably use a little education themselves. ---
**Author:** ![K364](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/k364/32/5_2.png) [@K364](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K364)\ **Post date:** [July 22, 2002, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/22 "2002-07-22T23:48:27Z")
The far side is significantly different from the visible side: it is lacking the lunar “maria”. Does anyone know what theories there are to account for that? ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 12:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/23 "2002-07-23T00:25:38Z")
**K364:** The theory I heard was that the dust that makes up the maria tends to be denser than the other lunar dust. A few billion years ago, the moon was **not** locked in synchronous rotation with the Earth like it is today, but eventually the tidal forces exerted by the Earth upon the moon slowed it down until it always kept the same side facing the Earth at all times (synchronous rotation, a.k.a. “tidally locked”). But since the moon’s surface is not a uniform density – the maria are heavier than the non-maria – the “center of high density” on the moon’s surface would receive special treatment from the tidal forces. It would either wind up facing directly **toward** the Earth, or it would end up facing directly **away** from the Earth. As it happened, the dense side ended up facing us, while the lighter side ended up facing away. A similar, but more striking phenomenon, happened with Mercury. There’s a humongous impact crater on Mercury which either forms its “center of high density”, or is exactly on the opposite side from Mercury’s “center of high density” (I forget which). Mercury’s orbit is so eccentric that the tidal force it experiences from the sun is far greater at perihelion (closest approach to the sun) than it is at aphelion. As such, the most-dense spot on Mercury’s surface only has to face directory toward (or away) from the sun at perihelion – so mercury rotates **exactly one-and-a-half times** for every revolution around the sun. One perihelion the crater faces the sun, the next it faces away, the next it faces toward, etc… ---
**Author:** ![Leechlord](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/e19b73/32.png) [@Leechlord](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leechlord)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/24 "2002-07-23T01:50:35Z")
Do u think that they actually landed on the moon? I just watch this show on TV like 4 days ago i think about how it’s fake. It was during the Cold war so they thought reaching the moon will be win the war. So US launched the shuttle & they went around the earth for 8 days, while on earth they made some moon sceneries & fake the movies. Some proves are (not mine, TV ppl’s): 1. No wind on the moon, y the american flag waving? 2. When the ship landed, it doesn’t show the mark of the blaster on the surface where they landed (on the pictures) 3. They use the same scenery over & over again for more than 1 days when they called it it’s 2 miles away form yesterday. 4. If u fast forwad the video when they’re walkin, it looks like they were running normally on earth (the slow motioned it.) 5. When they took 1 pic of the shuttle, the sun was behind the shuttle so the shadow is over us, but i can see the front of the shuttle which said “USA” (or something like that) clearly, There are 2 lightning is beign used. 6. How can they survive the deadly ray in outer space? If they rlly landed, they should have some diseases but they were back perfectly normal. Any comments? ---
**Author:** ![heresiarch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/278dde/32.png) [@heresiarch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/heresiarch)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/25 "2002-07-23T02:39:59Z")
We’ve talked about this question before. WARNING: For some people, it’s a hot-button issue. I did a search and found [Man Manding on the Moon!](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=82912) And in that thread **Yojimbo** compiled the following list: [Did We Really Go To the Moon? Think about it](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=67702) [Was the Apollo moon landing a hoax?](http://www.straightdope.com/mailbag/mmoonhoax.html) a mailbag responce. [Charity drive to feed the empty heads of the Nasa/moon conspiracy theorists](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=60144) [Moon landings](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=70248) [Group Response to Fox’s Moon Conspiracy](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=64467) [Creepy: was the moon landing was hoaxed…?](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?threadid=43098) ---
**Author:** ![tracer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tracer/32/20578_2.png) [@tracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tracer)\ **Post date:** [July 23, 2002, 11:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/26 "2002-07-23T23:49:40Z")
The last time a man Manded on the moon, he broke his Manding gear. ---
**Author:** ![Jinx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c6cbf5/32.png) [@Jinx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jinx)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/27 "2002-07-24T00:08:20Z")
We landed on the right side, thank goodness, for the Moon Men were chasing our heroes Rocky and Bullwinkle at that very moment on the left side! 😃😉 In all seriousness, though: National Geographic once reported how the crew of Apollo 11 nearly missed the selected target which cost them more fuel than anticipated…making the journey back a little nail biting…a prequel to Apollo 13??? - Jinx ---
**Author:** ![TheeGrumpy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/779978/32.png) [@TheeGrumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheeGrumpy)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 1:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/28 "2002-07-24T01:10:40Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by burntsand \* > IIRC, Schmitt was a geologist, the first scientist (as opposed to pilot) astronaut, right? Schmitt was among the [first class of five](http://www.astronautix.com/astros/astgroup.htm) scientist-astronauts selected in 1965. (Actually, there were 6, but Graveline resigned early.) As Tuckerfan points out, the distinction is that they weren’t pilots beforehand, like every other astronaut who flew prior to the shuttle days. By then, they became known as Mission Specialists, or sometimes Payload Specialists. Also, Schmitt was the only geologist among a gang of engineers and M.D.s, so it would have been a waste _not_ to send him to the Moon. > [@](#): > > _postd by Jinx:_ > Apollo 11 nearly missed the selected target which cost them more fuel than anticipated…making the journey back a little nail biting… The landing was nail-biting, but once they made contact, their problems were over. The fuel that was nearly exhausted was in the descent stage, which was deactivated and never used again once the landing was completed. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/29 "2002-07-24T09:30:35Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Jinx \* > \*\*We landed on the right side, thank goodness, for the Moon Men were chasing our heroes Rocky and Bullwinkle at that very moment on the left side! 😃😉 > > In all seriousness, though: National Geographic once reported how the crew of Apollo 11 nearly missed the selected target which cost them more fuel than anticipated…making the journey back a little nail biting…a prequel to Apollo 13??? > > - Jinx \*\* Actually, the better one was the landing of Apollo 14. They lost the landing radar and were about to give the order to abort when they got the problem solved. However, everyone in Mission Control knew that if they gave the order to abort, Shepard would have told them to get bent and landed the thing anyway. He was just that kind of guy. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [July 24, 2002, 1:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001/30 "2002-07-24T13:28:25Z")
While the following link is probably in one (or more) of the SDMB threads listed by **heresiarch** , I thought I’d give **Leechlord** a direct link the **The Bad Astronomer’s** site regarding his [debunking of the Apollo Moon Hoax.](http://www.badastronomy.com/bad/tv/foxapollo.html) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/which-side-of-the-moon-did-we-land-on/120001.md?page=1)