Explanation:
No one, presently, sees the Moon rotate like this.
That's because the Earth's moon is tidally locked to the Earth, showing us
only one side.
Given modern digital technology, however,
combined with many detailed images returned by the
Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO),
a high resolution virtual
Moon rotation movie
has been composed.
The featured time-lapse video starts with the standard Earth
view of the Moon.
Quickly, though,
Mare Orientale, a large crater with a dark center
that is difficult to see from the Earth, rotates into view just below the equator.
From an entire
lunar month condensed into 24 seconds,
the video clearly shows that the Earth side of
the Moon contains an abundance of
dark lunar maria,
while the lunar far side is dominated by bright
lunar highlands.
Currently, over 32 new missions to the Moon are under active development from multiple countries
and companies, including NASA's
Artemis program which aims to
land people on the Moon again within the next few years.
