October 7, 1959: The Dark Side of the Moon

On October 7, 1959, a Soviet spacecraft took the first pictures of the dark side of the moon. Luna 3 used a Yenisey-2 camera/film processor to take 29 pictures over a 40 minute period at distances ranging from 63,500 km to 66,700 km above the moon's surface. Although 17 frames were transmitted back to earth, only six were published. These views depicted mountainous terrain and two low-lying regions which were named Mare Moscovrae (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Dreams).