Luna 3 launched 1959

Luna 3, launched October 4, 1959, became the first spacecraft to photograph the far side of the moon. The images were of poor quality, but excitement was from the never-before-seen dark side.  The pictures showed a very different terrain from the Earth-facing side of the moon.  It discovered Mare Moscoviense (Sea of Moscow) and Mare Desiderii (Sea of Desire), low-lying regions.  

The probe passed within 6200 km of the moon's surface near its south pole, on October 6 when the sun was shining on the far side.  Twenty-nine pictures were taken, covering 70% of the far side's surface.

It then passed over the moon's north pole and headed back to Earth.  Contact was lost on October 22, 1959 and it is believed to have burned up in the Earth's atmosphere.

Dark side of the moon

For the first time, the far, 'dark' side of the moon was photographed when the Russian spacecraft Luna 3 passed within 63,500 kilometers of the side of the moon which never faces Earth.  It took twenty-nine pictures (using 35mm film) over the span of about 40 minutes.  The images were of low quality but they recorded sunlit images of the side which that never be seen from Earth.  Contact with the probe was lost October 22, 1959.

Luna 3