Planetary Database/Terran/Earth/Luna
The Planetary Database - Terran System - Earth - Luna
The Moon is Earth's only natural satellite. It has no formal name other than "The Moon," although in English it is occasionally called Luna (Latin for moon), or Selene (Greek for moon), to distinguish it from the generic "moon" (natural satellites of other planets are also called moons). Its symbol is a crescent. The terms lunar, selene/seleno-, and -cynthion (from the Lunar deities Selene and Cynthia) refer to the Moon (aposelene, selenocentric, pericynthion, etc.).
The average distance from the Moon to the Earth is 384,403 kilometers (238,857 miles). The Moon's diameter is 3,476 kilometres (2,160 mi). Reflected sunlight from the Moon's surface reaches Earth in 1.3 seconds (at the speed of light).
The first man-made object to land on the Moon was Luna 2 in 1959, the first photographs of the otherwise occluded the far side of the Moon were made by Luna 3 in the same year, and the first people to land on the Moon came aboard Apollo 11 in 1969.
The two sides of the Moon
The Moon is in synchronous rotation, meaning that it keeps nearly the same face turned toward Earth at all times (There is a small change however called libration). The side of the Moon that faces Earth is called the near side, and the opposite side is called the Far side of the Moon|far side. The far side is also sometimes called the "dark side", which means "unknown and hidden", and not "lacking light" as might seem to be implied by the name; in fact the far side receives (on average) as much sunlight as the near side, but at opposite times. Spacecraft are cut off from direct radio communication with Earth when on the far side of the Moon (Due to Line of Sight). One distinguishing feature of the far side is its almost complete lack of maria (singular: mare), which are the dark albedo features.
Political
As a major Human settlement, Luna falls under Federation jurisdiction and protection.
"Terra Prime", a xenophobic group of Humans which manifested in 2155, originated from the Orpheus Mining Colony on Luna.
In the 24th century there are over 50 million people living on the Moon. In earth slang people who lived on the moon were called Lunar schooners. The occupants of Luna were aware of this but chose not to use the term on the moon.