The Far Side of the Moon In 1968, astronauts on Apollo 8 saw something that no other human had seen before. They saw the far side of the moon for the first time. The far side of the moon always faces away from Earth. Before 1968, people had only seen pictures of the far side of the moon. A Russian spacecraft took pictures of the far side of the moon in 1959. The spacecraft was called Luna 3. It took black- and-white pictures of the far side of the moon. The pictures showed that the far side is Before 1968, people had only seen pictures of the similar to the near side of the far side of the moon. moon. The near side of the moon always faces Earth. The moon completes one orbit around Earth about every 28 days. The moon also rotates, just like Earth. The moon completes one rotation about every 28 days. The moon has a unique orbit. The moon takes the same amount of time to orbit the Earth as it does to rotate. This is why the same side of the moon always faces the Earth. Astronauts have never visited the far side of the moon. The last time an astronaut walked on the near side of the moon was in 1972. In 2006, NASA announced plans to send astronauts to the far side of the moon. When they land, they will be the first humans to walk on the side of the moon we never see. Discovery Education Science © Discovery Communications, LLC .