A recent story on Space.com presented the idea that some scientists believe we are entering what they call the "Lunar Anthropocene." In other words, like Earth's own Anthropocene, the moon is entering a phase where human activities will play a significant role in its natural history.
This is, of course, true. The first impacts of Soviet probes occurred in the 1960s, leaving scars and piles of metal and plastic buried in the regolith, while the Apollo program left everything from footprints and flags to hardware and bags of waste on its surface. Today's international Moon Rush sees probes and landers and rovers banging into it, rolling over it, poking it, and soon, the first private commercial explorations will begin surveying it for resources. Within the next decade, humans will return, hopefully, to stay forever, meaning the construction of Moon Ports, habitats, energy infrastructure and the creation of even more waste.
