Pink Floyd notwithstanding, there is no “Dark side of the Moon” any more than there is a dark side of the earth. The Moon rotates just like earth does, continually changing which half of the sphere is in sunlight and which half in darkness. Our celestial companion keeps one face turned towards us as it orbits around the earth, which means it takes a month rather than 24 hours to make its full 360 degree rotation. Here is a compilation of images from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter (LRO) showing how the Moon would appear if you could sit fixed on a line between the Moon and the sun for a month: APOD: 2018 March 18 – Rotating Moon from LRO
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 above 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 20 new missions to the Moon are under active development from four different countries, most of which have expected launch dates either this year or next.