Mare Desiderii

Mare Desiderii /dɛsɪˈdɪəriaɪ/ (Latin dēsīderiī, the "Sea of Desires") was an area of the Moon named after Luna 3 returned the first pictures of the far side in 1959.[1]

Mare Desiderii
Luna 3 image of the far side
Coordinates33.7°S 163.5°E / -33.7; 163.5
EponymSea of Dreams
A stamp from the Soviet Union showing a map based on the Luna 3 images.

Early publications of the Luna 3 image referred to the Mare as Mechta, the Russian word for dream.[2] Mechta was an alternate name for the Luna 1 spacecraft.[3] The feature was also called the Dream Sea[4] or the Sea of Dreams.[5] Other references called it Mare Somnii, Latin for the Sea of Dreams.[6]

It was later determined to be an optical illusion in the low quality image. The International Astronomical Union (IAU) removed the name from the list of lunar nomenclature in 1960.[7] Instead this area includes a smaller mare, Mare Ingenii (Sea of Ingenuity or Cleverness), and other dark craters.[8]

The naming of this and other features by the Soviet Union was considered controversial at the time. The newly named places on Soviet lunar maps were perceived as an extension of Soviet territory.[7] The IAU was then given the responsibility for naming newly discovered features.[9]

References
  1. Wilkinson, John (26 October 2010). "Geological History of the Moon". The Moon in Close-up. Patrick Moore's Practical Astronomy Series. Springer Berlin Heidelberg. pp. 69–104. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-14805-7_3. ISBN 978-3-642-14804-0.
  2. "Photos Show Moon's Hidden Side". Los Angeles Times. 27 October 1959. 'A sea called the Mechta (dream) sprawls out in the southern hemisphere on the very edge of the moon's invisible side,' Tass said.
  3. "Luna 1". NSSDCA Master Catalog Search. NASA. 28 October 2022. Retrieved 30 May 2023.
  4. "Moon Pictures Herald Planet Study". Washington Star. 27 October 1959.
  5. Caruthers, Osgood (27 October 1959). "Back of Moon 'Seen' First Time". New York Times. A huge area on the southeastern rim of the globe is called Sea of Dreams.
  6. Posin, Dan Q. (8 April 1962). "Destination Moon". Chicago Daily Tribune.
  7. Iina Kohonen (1 July 2017). Picturing the Cosmos: A Visual History of Early Soviet Space Endeavor. Intellect Books. ISBN 978-1-78320-744-2. OCLC 1013591364.
  8. "Luna 3". NASA Space Science Data Coordinated Archive. NASA. n.d. Retrieved 28 October 2021.
  9. "World glimpses far side of the Moon". On This Day. BBC. 26 October 1959. Retrieved 10 October 2021.
  • Stooke, Philip J. (2007). The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration. Cambridge University Press. p. 17. ISBN 978-0-521-81930-5.
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