Corrected entry: When the three astronauts travel around the moon, the radio contact breaks down. During this radio silence, they spot their planned landing site, Fra Mauro, on the surface of the moon. Just after this sight, Houston can get in contact with them again. So, only then, the spaceship comes out from behind the moon. But Fra Mauro is on the visible side on the moon, almost in the middle of it. How could the astronauts see Fra Mauro while they were still on the back side of the moon?
Eliza
27th Aug 2003
Correction: The visible "side" of the moon does not change, as the moon happens to rotate on it's axis at the same speed it goes round the earth. So far so good. Howver, it is perfectly possible to fly (or stand) in the middle of the visible side and not have radio contact with a given point on earth, simply because the transmitter you are trying to contact is over the earth's horizon from your point of view. They would then need to continue further on their trajectory to get radio line-of-sight back.
Eliza