Why does the Moon show the same face to Earth?
Quick Answer
Because the Moon is tidally locked: it rotates once on its axis in about 27.3 days, the same time it takes to orbit Earth.
The Full Story
The Moon keeps the same hemisphere facing Earth because gravity has synchronized its rotation with its orbit. This tidal locking happened early in the Moon’s history as Earth’s gravity slowed its spin over time. The Moon does not always show exactly the same view to us, because its slightly oval orbit lets us see a little more of the edges, a motion called libration. Spacecraft confirmed this in detail long before humans landed there in 1969. The far side was first photographed by the Soviet Luna 3 mission in 1959.
Key Facts
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Suggested video title for this topic:
"The Moon is not perfectly still—so why do we always see the same face?"
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