[astrange]

It's because the name of the moon is "The Moon", not "Moon". I think SF writers sometimes pretend it's called "Luna" so it'll have a more interesting name.

[nicoburns]

It is "la luna" in spanish. So I don't think SF writers are pretending.

[narag]

Spanish, that's right, but I guess they mean Latin.

[dTal]

They pretend it will be called Luna (in English), because "The Moon" is a silly name when you routinely travel to lots of moons.

[snypher]

It's name is Moon, and it's referred to as "the moon".

[d0mine]

It is Luna (Луна) in Russian

[dotancohen]

And other well-accepted sci-fi terms are of Slavic origin as well. Robot, for one, and that term actually transferred to colloquial language.

[ralphm]

Except that Luna in Slavic and Latin just share the same ancestor in PIE.