Preface: The far side of the moon – During the Apollo missions, the far side of the moon was often in complete darkness or dim light due to mission scheduling.

Background: The far side of the moon—a sight never seen by astronauts in the 1960s. Is that so?

In fact, this is a common misconception! The 24 astronauts who flew on Apollo 8 through Apollo 17 between 1968 and 1972 were the first humans to see the far side of the Moon with their own eyes.

What will be different in 2026?

Although they also saw it, the current Artemis 2 mission (April 2026) has seen things that the “astronauts of the 1960s” could not, for several key reasons:

Better Lighting: During the Apollo missions, the far side was often in total darkness or poor lighting because of the mission timing. Artemis II is flying over when much more of the far side is sunlit, revealing details that were previously hidden in shadow.

Wider View: The Apollo capsules orbited very close to the surface (about 60-70 miles up), giving them a narrow, “slice-by-slice” view. Artemis II is flying about 4,000 miles above the surface, allowing the crew to see massive geological features—like the entire Orientale Basin—all at once.

Newer Discoveries: The Artemis crew is specifically looking for small, recently formed craters that didn’t exist 50 years ago.

Ref: The Artemis astronauts are currently on their way back to Earth after breaking the Apollo 13 distance record.

Official announcement: Track NASA’s Artemis II Mission in Real Time – https://www.nasa.gov/missions/artemis/artemis-2/track-nasas-artemis-ii-mission-in-real-time/