Niki Vaghjiani
L.A., Per. 6
March 3, 2010
First Lunar Colony
"Good afternoon, ladies and gents and welcome to the great South Pole of our Luna. Hope you guys are refreshed and suited. The local time is March 28, 2020. We will now begin our tour..."
I stood gazing at the depths of space through the clear dome, unaware that everyone else had already fitted their space gear. I quickly slipped on my spacesuit. The amazement of visiting an actual lunar colony never left me from the moment I had set foot on the Space Shuttle. I took the steps to a wide door that led to the moon's sandy surface. Taking a deep breathe, I leaped out of our only protection from the vast vacuum that lie ahead. I turned around to find the giant air tight door already sealed shut and felt the tour guide tap my shoulder, signaling forward. I reached towards my helmet and switched my radio to full volume.
"Alright guys, we will first be heading off to southern lunar highlands." He pointed to a peculiar sight of rugged terrain topped with many satellite instruments and wiring networks. As the group of twenty made their way forward, I compared them to a cluster of white bunnies hopping across a field. The tour guide began his daily rehearsed speech.
"As we move along here, towards your left you will notice a series of large domes. These currently serve as our exercise and recreation centers as well as the quarters for single and family dwellings. The faculties are both above base and below, the below serving as shelter during severe solar storms."
"What are those buildings little over to the right?" I questioned. They were not dome shaped as most of the structures were and had many interesting architectural shapes like those seen on earth.
"Those buildings serve as cultural centers for the citizens. Inhabitants who live up here for a while begin developing thoughts of isolation and fears of living in such a constrained, alien environment. Many a times, keeping the human body nourished with religious activities relieves this stress. In addition, it helps preserve our human culture and civilization."
"Alrighty, here we are at the great southern lunar highlands. This particular high altitude site offers us continuous sunlight. And, as you can see, of these many instruments around, some are used to create electricity solar power that runs our settlement down there. Sometimes, we, inhabitants, take a stroll up here because there is direct view of the planet Earth. Seeing the Earth helps us psychologically grow. This rugged terrain of peaks and valleys also allows minimum physical adaption of infrastructures to place our broadband laser communication equipment and relay stations."
"Our Space Program was able to create this first ever colony because of the discovery of water ice here on the moon a little over ten years ago. Humans depend on water to live. You may notice that many buildings are surrounded by tracks. These buildings are shielded against solar particle radiation by water ice. Tall solar powered towers run along the tracks in order to cast a continuous shadow upon the structure and preserve the ice."
I took a glance below and edged towards the cliff. The creation of this city left me in pure wonder. The September 2009 discovery of water had greatly advanced mankind. It has allowed humans to study space from space and evolutionized our growth in this new lunar environment. In reality, lunar water gave humans the opportunity to be superhuman and maybe someday travel out of this solar system.