For the first time, NASA will send a space probe to the other side of the moon. Before sending humans back to the moon under its Artemis program, the agency plans to send three payloads in order to further investigate our planet’s satellite.
The program, called Payloads and Research Investigations on the Surface of the Moon (PRISM), will carry these probes between now and 2024. Originally, the goal was for humans to return to the moon by 2024, but this date has been deemed unrealistic and has been discarded. The agency has not yet declared when it intends for humans to return to the Moon, but it could be around the year 2028.
There is still much to learn from the Moon
The dark side of the moon has only been explored by China’s Chang’e 4 mission in 2019 and NASA wants to learn more before putting human boots on the region.
The payloads will study lunar eddies, seismic activity, and heat flux and electrical conductivity within the Schrödinger basin. If the missions are successful, it will be the first space agency to take humans to the other side of the moon.
“These investigations demonstrate the power of CLPS (the Commercial Lunar Cargo Services program) to deliver great science in small packages, providing access to the lunar surface to address high-priority science goals for the Moon,” said Lori Glaze, director of the Division of Planetary Sciences of NASA. “ When scientists analyze this new data along with returned Apollo lunar samples and data from our many orbital missions, they will advance our knowledge of the surface and interior of the Moon, and increase our understanding of crucial phenomena like space weathering to inform future events. manned missions to the moon and beyond. “
The far side of the moon, known colloquially as the dark side or the hidden side, actually receives as much light as the near side, but it is not observable because the Moon always presents the same face to the Earth.
