Luna
Adjectives: Selenite, Lunar, Loony (derogatory), Moony (derogatory)
Current State
The moon's weak gravity prevents walking, except very slowly. Both bases have 'g treads', which are large, rotating expanses to artificially raise gravity to Earth or Martian levels in some areas. Other areas make use of gravitic technology, but this is far less common.
Life on the Moon is rather exotic, and appears extremely awkward. Many call it the endless desert, perpetual fields of white grains stretching far, far beyond the horizon. The atmosphere, comprised mostly of molecular oxygen ripped from the soil, is rather unstable. Atomic oxygen levels cause the atmosphere to actually slowly burn the skin at times, though this is of little concern near the poles.
The sky is blue, much like Earth's, but winds are gentle, and there are no clouds, and probably never will be.
The view of Earth from Luna is quite stunning, especially during a 'full Earth' at nighttime. Although the band of the Terran Ring is rather thin, it is still quite visible, and some remark that its size is actually somewhat disturbing.
Current Activity
Earth's moon has two permanent stations, one on each pole, the north being labelled Armstrong Station and the south Aldrin Station, after the first two men on the Moon.
They are located at the poles to help mitigate the massive temperature variations they would otherwise suffer, make use of constantly available solar power, and to access water ice in the polar craters. Breathing assistance is common, and even those with the Beta Strain need skin lotion - vicious sunburns can occur after only minutes of unprotected exposure. In addition, people generally keep their outside activities fairly close to the day/night divider, as it gets both very hot during the day and very cold at night.
Like Earth, Luna is surrounded by a mass of satellites and stations, and the Lagrange stations are all extravegant affairs. Well within the influence of the Consortium, no one who expresses a song in the region is safe.
Future Plans
Work is currently being done to stabalize the moon's atmosphere. In addition, the idea of reversing the moon's tidal braking on Earth is being considered, although no such plan has yet come to fruition (not exactly a pressing matter).
