Luna is Earth's moon, and the innermost Domain colony.
Luna, from her orbit.
Early Human Activity[]
Humanity first looked to the moon as an acheivable goal in the mid-Twentieth century. The United States of America and the Soviet Union were locked in a race to acheive ever more ambitious goals in space. This culminated in the Apollo 11 mission, by the USA's NASA. Beginning on 16 July 1969, the mission was to make history - the first ever human landing on another stellar object - on 20 July of the same year. (image above recovered from ancient Earth archives, recorded on Apollo 16 mission)
Colonization[]
As Earth became ever more over crowded, the UCN began to look for solutions. Luna was the first. Small colonies were established on the Lunar surface, but proved only a temporary solution. Over time, a more permanent format was deemed necessary, and colonies were built into the lunar crust through the craters on the surface. Only a handful of the original facilites remained operational following the UCN's collapse, and are maintained by the Mars Defense Forces. The most notable, Essex Base, is an operational military installation, allowing for limited civillian access, due to its playing host to the Helghast delegation for the negotiations leading to the Mars Accord.
Luna under the MCD[]
As a Martian colony, Luna is relatively low population. While it does serve as a trade port for the Empire, and as a manufacturing center, Luna's primary purpose is as the MDF's proving ground and low-G combat training facility.