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"For decades, scientists have been trying to understand why the near side of the Moon - the one visible from Earth - is flat and cratered while the rarely-seen
by astine 15y ago
"For decades, scientists have been trying to understand why the near side of the Moon - the one visible from Earth - is flat and cratered while the rarely-seen far side is heavily cratered and has mountain ranges higher than 3,000m."
Is it possible that the Earth has shielded the moon from asteroid collisions? This seems to me to be a far simpler explanation as to why the side facing Earth has fewer collision marks.
- AlecSchueler 15y agoIt's the opposite way round. The side that's not facing the Earth has fewer craters.
- sesqu 15y agoI'm under the impression that's not true. Looking at http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/clementine/images/ http://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/clementine/images/ I see a smoother surface on the earth side. I also found on the Internet some paired images from different cameras, which of course can be chosen to emphasize either side.
- mturmon 15y agoYou are correct. There is a nice browser with a good DEM at http://pub.lmmp.nasa.gov/lunarmapper/lm.html?host=pub http://pub.lmmp.nasa.gov/lunarmapper/lm.html?host=pub