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NASA’s video about the dark side of the moon has an amazing hidden feature

Pink Floyd fans, you're in for a treat.

 

Aaron Sankin

Internet Culture

Posted on Feb 8, 2015   Updated on May 29, 2021, 2:28 pm CDT

Earlier this month, NASA released a video about the dark side of the moon, the side always facing away from the the earth. About four decades prior, British psychedelic rock band Pink Floyd released Dark Side of the Moon, an album whose cover adorned many a college dorm room.

Those two things have far more in common than it may initially seem. 

NASA’s animation uses data from the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter, a robotic spacecraft that has been circling the moon for the past five years, taking pictures of the natural satellite’s surface. It’s a cool, educational clip—it shows what people around the world see every day, quite literally in a new light.

It also syncs up perfectly to the beginning of Pink Floyd’s 1973 rock masterpiece. The animators clearly had some fun making this.

Here’s how it works. Start by hitting play on this video:

When the song gets about 15 seconds in, hit play on the next video, immediately mute the sound, and make it full screen:

When the NASA video is over in a couple minutes, hit the repeat button in the bottom left corner. Keep doing that until you get hungry. Walk into the kitchen to make yourself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Immediately lose your train of thought as soon as you get there. Sit back down at your computer and start the process from scratch.

You’re welcome.

Photo by Kraigsta/Wikimedia Commons

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*First Published: Feb 8, 2015, 4:04 pm CST