dark side of the Moon

The "dark side" of the Moon is a misnomer; it's more accurately called the far side. This is the hemisphere of the Moon that always faces away from Earth due to tidal locking, where the Moon's rotation period matches its orbital period around Earth.12

The far side was first photographed in 1959 by the Soviet space probe Luna 3. Unlike the near side, which has large, dark plains called maria, the far side is predominantly covered by highlands and has far fewer maria. This difference is largely due to the Moon's surface being shaped by impacts. While the near side's maria are younger, formed by ancient lava floods, the far side's ancient basins are not filled with lava, leaving them heavily cratered.3

The Moon itself is a dark object, reflecting only about 7% of the sunlight that hits it.3