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2024-11-11

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PopSci doesn't understand difference between "far side" and "dark side" of the moon (www.popsci.com)

submitted 1 year ago by CeeBee to c/science

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I find it hard to believe that Popular Science would make such a mistake, but the author has reinforced the mistake by starting the article with "The dark side of the moon, despite its name, is a perfect vantage point for observing the universe."

But all the quotes from scientists correctly say "far side of the moon".

I know this isn't really "science news" but I couldn't find any other community to share this.

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[–] nBodyProblem 4 points 1 year ago

I was an engineer at NASA on the lunar lander program. The engineers I worked with were deeply involved in analyzing how the lighting conditions impacted the navigational dispersions during the landing approach.

Every one of those guys would have understood what someone colloquially means by “dark side of the moon”. There are other, more precise, terms for the unlit side.

Popular science is not really a science journal, it’s an entertainment publication. I don’t see an issue here.