Peter Boynton, age 12, of Phoenix, Arizona for his question:

How do we know the temperature on the far side of the moon?

Nobody has over seen the far side of the moon, lot along taken its temperature. Yet most experts are quite sure that the temperature range is the same all over the moon. Day is just as hot and night as cold on the far side of the moon as on the side which faces the earth.

During the lunar daytime the sun boats down on the moon with scorching heat. No blanket of air softens the fierce rays. There is no air because the moon cannot hold an atmosphere. Each clay lasts about two weeks and during that time the temperature builds up to about COQ degrees Fahrenheit.

When we sec a now moon the for side is mostly in daylight. There is no reason to believe that the daytime temperature is any different. When the moon if full, the far side is in night. And there is every reason to believe the night on the far side is just as cold, below minus 400 degrees Fahrenheit, at night on our side of the moon.