On the Moon's far side, where radio silence reigns and no earthly light intrudes, humanity faces one of its earliest and most consequential decisions as a spacefaring species. At a Royal Astronomical Society debate in Birmingham this July, scientists argued over whether this pristine astronomical sanctuary should be preserved for science or opened to commercial development — with 76 percent of attendees siding with preservation. The choices made now, researchers warn, will not merely shape what telescopes can hear across the cosmos, but will establish the moral and legal precedents by which hu