by Simon Coates
The first successful manned mission to the Moon was completed in July 1969, when Neil Armstrong set foot on Earth’s natural satellite. It took a huge effort to accomplish this, and was regarded as the finest human achievement of the 20th century. It was nearly two hundred years later, in 2165, when humans started to live there. Due to the dangers of the natural lunar atmosphere, for humans to live there in a normal fashion, a team of scientists lead by Heinder Sordim were tasked with the job of creating the solution to this problem of making the Moon habitable. This resulted in the use of massive ‘domes’ which cover the lunar surface, protecting the vulnerable population from the harsh lunar atmosphere. The domes are constructed with a very special cocktail of materials, which stretch over the entire area where humans live. The material is immensely strong, even able to survive small meteorite impacts. It is placed over the Moon surface, about one mile high at the peak and along with the artificial gravity systems buried into the Moon, they make living conditions for humans safe and pleasant. People can venture out onto the wider Moon surface, indeed this is a popular pastime amongst explorers, using specially adapted automobiles. However, it is a legal requirement for the people to carry with them their anti-radiation suit at all times, which is designed to protect a person if they were subjected to the natural Moon atmosphere.
The government of the Moon is located on the sole orbiting Type 5 spacestation Centaur. The areas of the Moon which are the main population centres are:
Sinus Iridium, Bay of Rainbows, located at the northern area of the Moon. This is the capital city of the Moon.
Mare Serenitaris, Sea of Serenity, located south of the Bay of Rainbows.
Euler, located to the west of the Sea of Serenity, which looks onto the large crater that the area is named after.
As on Earth, people living on the Moon have their own unique customs, including leisure activities. The most well-known and popular is the sport of targetball, where players shoot a ball into a target area of varying distances. The sport of hoverball is also very popular on the Moon.
The date of June 20th, when Armstrong landed on the Moon in 1969 is celebrated every year and is an official holiday. The Moon has a number of major tourist sites, not least of which is the original landing site of Neil Armstrong, which attracts many visitors each year. The lunar craters on the Moon are also major sites of interest.