Because, as you listen to it in 2023, 50 years after its release, “Dark Side of the Moon” somehow still manages to leave you feeling like something inside you has changed irreversibly.

There’s no real “dark side” of the moon, but the far side, which faces away from Earth, is different from the near side we see every day. Samples could reveal why.

China’s lunar rover Yutu 2 is back on duty and ready for new endeavours as the probe embarks on its fifth year of exploring the far side of the moon. The unmanned vehicle woke up on January 15 ...

It wasn’t until 1959 when the Soviet Luna 3 probe gave us our first glimpse of the Moon’s far side, and it wasn’t until 2019 when the Chang’e 4 mission made the first soft landing.

With my apologies to Roger Waters, who wrote those lyrics, there is a dark side of the moon. And sometimes it’s not all that dark. You can see that for yourself over the next few nights.

There’s no real “dark side” of the moon, but the far side, which faces away from Earth, is different from the near side we see every day. Samples could reveal why.