When Michael Collins floated above the far side of the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969, he knew he would be remembered as the loneliest human in history. He recalled feeling unafraid, almost exultant, thinking about everything on the other side of the moon: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin on the lunar surface and, beyond that, every creature on Earth and everything humanity had ever built. On his side, as Collins wrote in his memoir, was “one plus God only knows what”.
A half-century later, the famously empty lunar landscape is starting to get busier. Not only are…
