Mare Desiderii /dɛsɪˈdɪəriaɪ/ (Latin dēsīderiī, the "Sea of Desires") was an area of the Moon named after Luna 3 returned the first pictures of the far side in 1959.

[1] Early publications of the Luna 3 image referred to the Mare as Mechta, the Russian word for dream.

[5] Other references called it Mare Somnii, Latin for the Sea of Dreams.

The International Astronomical Union (IAU) removed the name from the list of lunar nomenclature in 1960.

[8] The naming of this and other features by the Soviet Union was considered controversial at the time.