left, A stamp from the Soviet Union showing a map based on the Luna 3 images. Mare Desiderii (Latin ''dēsīderiī'', the "Sea of Dreams") was an area of the

Moon The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It is the fifth largest satellite in the Solar System and the largest and most massive relative to its parent planet, with a diameter about one-quarter that of Earth (comparable to the width of ...

named after

Luna 3 Luna 3, or E-2A No.1 ( rus, Луна 3}) was a Soviet spacecraft launched in 1959 as part of the Luna programme. It was the first mission to photograph the far side of the Moon and the third Soviet space probe to be sent to the neighborhood of th ...

returned the first pictures of the far side in 1959. This name is derived from the Russian ''Море Мечты'', Mechta ("Dream") being the original name for the

Luna 1 ''Luna 1'', also known as ''Mechta'' (russian: Мечта , '' lit.'': ''Dream''), ''E-1 No.4'' and ''First Lunar Rover'', was the first spacecraft to reach the vicinity of Earth's Moon, and the first spacecraft to be placed in heliocentric or ...

spacecraft. It was later determined to be an optical illusion in the low quality image. The

International Astronomical Union The International Astronomical Union (IAU; french: link=yes, Union astronomique internationale, UAI) is a nongovernmental organisation with the objective of advancing astronomy in all aspects, including promoting astronomical research, outreac ...

(IAU) removed the name from the list of lunar nomenclature in 1960. Instead this area includes a smaller

mare A mare is an adult female horse or other equine. In most cases, a mare is a female horse over the age of three, and a filly is a female horse three and younger. In Thoroughbred horse racing, a mare is defined as a female horse more than fo ...

Mare Ingenii Mare Ingenii (Latin ''ingeniī'', the "Sea of Cleverness") is one of the few lunar mare features on the far side of the Moon. The mare sits in the Ingenii basin, which is of the Pre-Nectarian epoch, which lies in turn in the outer part of the ol ...

(Sea of Ingenuity or Cleverness), and other dark craters. 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. The IAU was then given the responsibility for naming newly discovered features.

References

* {{cite book, title=The International Atlas of Lunar Exploration , last=Stooke , first=Philip J. , year=2007 , publisher=Cambridge University Press , isbn=978-0-521-81930-5 , pages=17 Desiderii