Flexi Says: The Moon does not have a permanent dark side. The dark side of the Moon is simply the side that is in the shadow of the Sun's light. That side changes as the Moon rotates on its axis. The Moon rotates very slowly. In fact, the Moon rotates on its axis once for every orbit it makes around Earth. So one day on the Moon is about 29.5 Earth days. The dark, or night, lasts for about half that time. However, because the Moon's rotation and revolution are equal, the same side of the Moon always faces Earth. The side of the Moon that always faces Earth is called the near side. The side of the Moon that always faces away from Earth is called the far side. Unlike the dark and light sides, the near and far sides are permanent. From Earth, people have only seen the Moon's near side. The far side has only been seen by spacecraft and Apollo astronauts.
