A peek into our August 2025 Issue: The most expensive mistake in Ancient Rome, the world's rarest duck, and the boldest fossil hunt ever attempted.
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Our cover story on the future of the moon is inspired by the first image Neil Armstrong took on the lunar surface. Notice something in it? |
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Yes, that’s a trash bag; technically named a “jettison bag,” it’s filled with empty food containers and other throwaways. What’s astounding is that bag is still on the moon; it will likely be there for millions of years, along with the 400,000-plus pounds of refuse sent since the dawn of the space age.
I’ve been thinking of this photo as a new lunar space race heats up. It makes me wonder: Will we trash the moon? |
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Charles Fishman’s reporting examines these possible futures. I asked him to describe the best-case scenario for the future of the moon, and the worst, and what would lead us down one path or the other. He spoke to scientists thinking about telescopes that can only operate on the moon, engineers devising ways to build roads from moon dirt, and CEOs sensing a whole world of economic possibilities.
For the digital version, we hired the artist Rui Ricardo to illustrate the technology that could transform the moon using a style inspired by vintage travel posters and pulp science fiction covers.
“It’s clear that this is the most exciting, most creative moment in the world of space since the 1960s and Apollo,” Fishman writes. “The moon is the next space frontier, again.”
–Brian Resnick, Editor |
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Photograph by Robbie Shone |
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