Hive mind: I'm a bit confused about the claim that tonight's #Artemis II lunar flyby will be the first time humans have seen the far side illuminated.
The claim is that the all Apollo landings took place on the nearside when the Moon was full, so the far side was dark.
That can't be entirely true: Apollo 8 saw some of the far side, as did all other Apollo flights.
And the Moon is ~80% waning gibbous tonight from Earth, so only ~20% of the far side is illuminated today.
What am I missing?
Mark McCaughrean
npub17s…sgf0k
2026-04-06 17:56:35 UTC
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2026-04-06 17:56:35 UTCEvent JSON
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