NASA has just posted a video of the dark side of the moon. The video was captured by the Gravity Recovery And Interior Laboratory (GRAIL) and shows the far-side of the moon as a grey, crater filled place.
Maria Zuber, Grail principal investigator from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, said:
“The quality of the video is excellent and should energize our MoonKAM students as they prepare to explore the moon.”
The video was captured by one of the twin GRAIL probes, Ebb and Flow, using a camera called MoonKAM. The GRAIL MoonKAM is being set up so that students around the world can take a closer look at the surface of the moon.
The MoonKam project, led by Sally Ride, the first American woman in space, will allow students to request targets on the moon to be photographed. Ride said:
“We have had great response from schools around the country; more than 2,500 signed up to participate so far. I expect this will excite many students about possible careers in science and engineering.
Here’s the video of the Dark Side of the Moon.
Fox reports that the GRAIL mission was launched in September, 2011. The two probes are currently lowering their orbits around the moon. When they reach an altitude of 34 miles above the surface, students will be able to start requesting targets.
And since we’re talking about the Dark Side of the Moon, here are the first three songs of The Dark Side of the Rainbow.
