2024-02-02 14:22:27
The front side of the moon (left) and the back side of the moon (right), which is not visible from Earth. The back of the moon has more craters than the front. (Photo = NASA)
(Seoul = Woori News) Reporter Lee Ga-eun = In May 1969, a strange noise was heard in the headsets of the Apollo 10 crew members who were performing a mission while orbiting the moon.
“Did you hear that whistle?”
“What is this, alien music?”
“I can’t believe it, no one will believe us.”
This startled conversation between astronauts Tom Stafford, John Young, and Eugene Cernan was recorded on tape.
The first and last time they heard it was when Apollo 10 was crossing the far side of the moon. During the very time when communication was interrupted and no sound was heard as the moon blocked the spacecraft from the Earth. This incident was reported to the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), but NASA classified it.
The seal was lifted in 2008, 40 years later. After hearing that it was declassified and made public, various interpretations emerged. The possibility that the sound was generated by charged particles passing through Saturn and that there was interference between the communication frequencies of Apollo 10 and other spacecraft was suggested. However, the exact source of the sound is not known.
What was that sound?
The far side of the moon is a treasure trove of mysteries. This is because it is an unknown area that cannot be seen from Earth. Artists were inspired by the sounds they heard from Apollo 10, and conspiracy theorists created many occult stories.
All that can be seen from Earth is the front side of the moon. This is because the moon’s orbital and rotation period is regarding 27.3 days, which is the same as the Earth’s.
The front side of the moon (left) and the back side of the moon (right), which is not visible from Earth. The back of the moon has more craters than the front. (Photo = NASA)
It has only been 60 years since mankind saw the far side of the moon, at least through observational images. This is the first video taken by the former Soviet Union’s Luna 3.
At 10:26 am on January 3, 2019, China’s lunar probe ‘Chang’e 4’ succeeded in landing on the far side of the moon, which is ‘invisible from Earth’. Previously, the United States and Russia had sent probes to the moon several times, but all of them either landed on the front side or orbited the moon and observed the back side of the moon from afar, and Chang’e 4 was the only one to land directly.
After landing, Chang’e 4 unfolded the solar panel, installed major exploration equipment such as a panoramic camera, satellite reception radar, infrared spectrometer, and neutron detector, and began an exploration mission on the far side of the moon.
There is no direct communication between the far side of the moon and the Earth. To solve this problem, China launched the communication relay satellite ‘Cheqiao’. Vivid photos and information taken by Chang’e 4 were transmitted to Earth through Cheqiao.
Meanwhile, through exploration records by lunar orbiters of various countries and Chang’e 4, it has been revealed that the front and back sides of the moon are very different. The front is relatively flat, and the back has many large and small impact craters. It is also known that the strata on the back of the moon are much thicker than those on the front. It was found that there are many natural resources such as rare minerals.
In April last year, the Ministry of Science and ICT, the Korea Aerospace Research Institute, and the Korea Astronomy and Space Science Institute released images of the moon’s surface taken by Danuri. The black-and-white photo vividly captures the land with dents in various places as if it had been hit by multiple bombs, craters on the lunar surface, and peaks within the craters.
The far side of the moon, which had been shrouded in mystery, is now gradually revealing itself. Perhaps soon, we may be able to meet the person responsible for the sound heard by the Apollo 10 astronauts.
The photo is part of the ‘Tsiolkovsky Crater’ area taken by Danuri. (Photo = Danuri homepage)
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