Post B51sqPJRjDvPeTvpE8 by aetios@sns.minovsky.space
 (DIR) More posts by aetios@sns.minovsky.space
 (DIR) Post #B51b8Tnvy77ZcWeyzA by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
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       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?
       
 (DIR) Post #B51b8U2p4l1yMhcsC0 by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
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       I mean, I do get that they'll be much higher above the far side, 6,500km at closest approach, so they'll have a much better overview, & yes, it's possible that they'll see parts never seen by humans directly before, but ...And, err, it's not like there haven't been a bunch of robotic missions which have fully surveyed it.Some claim that the human eye is better than cameras at pulling out slight colours, but that strikes me as complete baloney.
       
 (DIR) Post #B51b8UDSRDXOtgbMlk by aetios@sns.minovsky.space
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       @markmccaughrean the claim, as I've seen it, is that they will see more of the far side than humans ever did before. It's not breaking much scientific ground, but a quite big deal IMHO nonetheless.
       
 (DIR) Post #B51sqOoxYZXS7vfThw by hfalcke@mastodon.social
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       @markmccaughrean @cosmos4u ?
       
 (DIR) Post #B51sqP4Yca10uIxw1I by markmccaughrean@mastodon.social
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       @hfalcke @cosmos4u To partly answer my own question, from the pictures & reports, it’s essentially the region covering the Orientale Basin, which is on the limb from Earth, & because it’s big, it helps that Artemis is far from the Moon. Most of the far side is dark though.But broadly, you’d be pushed to justify any of the lunar or human biology science as fundamentally new relative to the many lunar missions already flown & ISS science. Again though, it’s not a science mission.
       
 (DIR) Post #B51sqPJRjDvPeTvpE8 by aetios@sns.minovsky.space
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       @markmccaughrean @hfalcke @cosmos4u i agree it's looking a bit desperate to focus on the science so much but maybe it's not enough to only do an important technology assessment. hmm. Either way back to my livestream...