How can the same side of the moon always face earth? Does it not rotate?

Question

The fact that China just retrieved rocks from the dark side of the moon confuses me. Does the moon rotate in the same manner as Earth does so we never see the “dark” side of the moon?

In: Planetary Science

Answer 1

it’s not the ‘dark’ side of the moon exactly, it’s the far side of the moon. It does get sunlight, but it always faces away from the Earth.

The moon is rotating at exactly the same speed that the earth and moon are revolving around each other, so the moon never shows us its back.

This is because it’s [“tidally locked.”](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tidal_locking)