AT: "xx" Luna (or The Moon) was an inhabited large natural satellite in the Earth system.
History
Aldrin sets foot on the moon
In the early 1960s, US President John F. Kennedy made a speech announcing that a decision had been made to transport Humans to the moon. (TOS: "The Cage")
In the mid-20th century, Luna was depicted in whole, or in part, on the Apollo program assignment patches. (ENT: "First Flight")
The first manned Human landing took place in 1969 by Apollo 11, a NASA mission initiated by the Earth nation-state of the United States of America. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday", "Return to Tomorrow")
The first man to walk on the Moon was Neil Armstrong, who said "That's one small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind." Shannon O'Donnell remembered watching it on television when she was eleven years old, and still had dreams about it inspiring her career with NASA in 2000. (VOY: "11:59")
In the mirror universe, the Terran Empire landed on the Moon, planting a flag there to signify their achievement. (ENT: "In a Mirror, Darkly" opening credits)
In 2063, Luna's gravitational field obscured the USS Enterprise-E's warp signature so that the Vulcan starship, the T'Plana-Hath, would not detect it while in Earth orbit as they were making First Contact with Humans. (Star Trek: First Contact)
In the late 21st century, the Lunar Colonies were founded. People who lived in these colonies, even by the 24th century, still referred to Luna as "the Moon", though outsiders were often surprised by this. (DS9: "Valiant")
By 2155, Luna had evolved from a mere colony to a fully self-sustaining world. That same year, John Frederick Paxton used the hijacked verteron array on Mars to fire on Luna, as a demonstration of the array's power. (ENT: "Demons")
In 2259 of the alternate reality, the USS Enterprise and the USS Vengeance were engaged in a firefight outside Luna's orbit. (Star Trek Into Darkness)
In 2287, the Galileo rendezvoused with the USS Enterprise-A near Luna. (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier)
On stardate 22825.4, Bruno Salvatore was born on Luna. (TNG-R: "Eye of the Beholder")
The USS Enterprise-D passed Luna on its way to Earth in 2364. (TNG: "Conspiracy")
The USS Defiant passed Luna on its way to Earth in 2371. (DS9: "Past Tense, Part I")
When attempting a lucid dream to contact a species of aliens, Chakotay used the image of the Moon to alert him to the fact that he was dreaming. Chakotay saw the Moon three times – once outside the USS Voyager from the mess hall, once on a monitor screen in Cargo Bay 2 after he'd apparently woken up to warn him he was still asleep and under the aliens' control, and once more on the main viewscreen in the bridge when he dozed off and was slipping back into the aliens' grip. (VOY: "Waking Moments")
Depictions in the Apollo program
Luna was a central theme in the mission insignia for the Apollo program in the mid-20th century. The first depiction of Luna was in the program's insignia. The insignia depicted the path of the spacecraft from a launch site in Florida to a landing site on Luna. Sun god Apollo was drawn into the features of Luna. As each mission grew closer to landing, the features of Luna became more detailed with cratering and suggested the ship either orbiting above or landing on Luna. By Apollo 15, the lunar features were the dominant image of the insignia. The last lunar mission, Apollo 17, suggested that the program was the first step in man's progression to the stars with Apollo looking beyond Luna to Saturn and to a distant galaxy. (ENT: "First Flight")
Political
As a major Human settlement, Luna fell under Federation jurisdiction and protection.
"Terra Prime", a xenophobic group of Humans which manifested in 2155, originated from the Orpheus Mining colony on the Moon.
In the late 24th century there were over fifty million people living on the Moon. (Star Trek: First Contact) 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. Additionally, most who had lived on Luna did not actually call it "Luna", this being a term that mostly those on Earth said. (DS9: "Valiant")
Geographical
Outside the pressure domes of the Lunar Colonies, the gravity was low and there was no air for Humans to breathe. The sun came up once a month. This event, known as the lunar morning, was a special occasion for people living on Luna. Dorian Collins and her father would hike across the Sea of Clouds towards a scenic spot on the western rim to witness the lunar morning. She described it as meeting God. (DS9: "Valiant")
On a clear day on Earth, a person could see Tycho City, New Berlin, and Lake Armstrong. (Star Trek: First Contact)
Locations
- Armstrong City
- Copernicus City
- Copernicus Ship Yards
- Lake Armstrong
- Luna Shipyards
- Lunaport
- Lunar colonies
- Lunar One colony
- New Berlin
- Orpheus Mining colony
- Sea of Clouds
- Tranquility Base
- Tycho City
Template:SolSystem
Appendices
Background information
 A maquette of Luna which was created for Star Trek III: The Search for Spock Luna orbiting Earth and Sol, as seen in the TNG opening sequence |
According to Star Trek: Star Charts (pp. 32, "United Federation of Planets I"), The Moon (or Sol IIIa) was classified as a D-class moon. In 2039, the Lunar Colonies, the uniglobal government of the Moon, was founded. Tycho City was the seat of government. In 2161, the Moon was a charter member of the United Federation of Planets. In 2378, Humans were the dominant species, and there were counted 50.2 million living on the Moon. Points of interest included Tranquility Base, Lake Armstrong, New Berlin, and Lunaport.
Luna appeared in the opening sequence of the remastered Star Trek: The Next Generation, seen surrounding Earth and Sol and followed by Jupiter and Saturn before the USS Enterprise-D started its exploration of the unknown space.
External links
- Luna at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
- Moon at Wikipedia