The Man in the Moon: A Human Experience

Approximately 3.8 billion years ago, a gigantic asteroid smashed into the northwestern quadrant of Earth’s only moon, forming a dark basin massive enough to be visible to the naked eye. Around 3.8 billion years later, this same spot, known to science as the Mare Imbrium, weathered another impact when a fictional spaceship plunged into the anthropomorphic Moon’s right eye in George Méliès’s celebrated 1902 film Le Voyage Dans la Lune. In the years between, “the Man in the Moon” was woven into Western legend, furnishing the common man with a way to intimately interact with Earth’s natural satellite by personifying it.

Caleigh Andrews is a senior in the Walsh School of Foreign Service studying Science, Technology, and International Affairs with a focus on Energy and Environment. She is particularly interested in nuclear technologies, especially as they relate to energy generation and environmental justice.