Several groups and individuals say it is necessary to protect lunar history before it is too late.
The World Monuments Fund published its “2025 surveillance list, which lists the moon as a” at risk “historical site. The hope is to protect the selected lunar areas of the damage, or even the looting visits and exploitation of future lunar tourists. But that could be a point of heavenly pain, given the attention that the Moon receives and how many lunar missions have been planned in the public and private sectors.
Experts say that lessons learned from attempts to preserve the most challenging international historical sites show a critical need to advocate global cooperation and policy frames now, before irreversible damage occurs.
Proactive policies
The inclusion of the Moon in the 2025 clock reflects the belief of the World Monument Fund (WMF) that “proactive policies are essential to safeguard the shared heritage of humanity, either or beyond,” said Jonathan Bell, vice president of president or president of the WMF.
“Like the Antarctic Treaty, whose objective is to protect historical sites in extreme environments, we believe that similar policies can and should be applied to the Moon’s cultural and scientific legacy, with the first lunar landing sites as a key bell.
Shared values, long -term objectives
The inclusion of the Moon on the 2025 clock was well received, noted Bell, by international stakeholders, including multinational members of the International Council of Monuments and Sites and its International Scientific Committee of Aerospace Heritage.
“WMF and the committee are now working to align members in shared values and long -term objectives to manage aerospace heritage,” Bell added.
As for what follows, WMF monitoring is currently under development, with more to come than the plans solidify, Bell said. “An interdisciplinary approach that attacks experts in the history of lunar exploration, the management of cultural resources and more will help shape a comprehensive and collaborative framework to protect heritage on the moon,” he concluded.
Justin Holcomb is a postdoctoral researcher at Kansas Geological Survey (KGS), a research unit at Kansas University in Lawrence, Kansas.
Holcomb and anthropologists and geologists of related ideas at the University of Kansas say it is time to recognize that humans have left their environmental footprint on the moon, declaring it the “lunar anthropocene”.
The idea is very similar to the discussion of anthropocene on earth. That is the exploration of how much humans have impacted our planet, says Holcomb.
“The consensus is that on Earth, the Anthropocene begged at some point in the past, whether they have thousands of years ago or in the 1950s. Similarly, on the Moon, we argue that the collection of the anthropocene lunar has called.”
New archaeological sites
Holcomb told Space.com that he is excited about the new archaeological sites (landing) on the moon created by Blue Ghost Lunar Lander of Firefly, the Touchdowns of the Firefly intuitive machines, along with the potential of the moon and the next potential for the ISPAC of Japan.
“But, more importantly, missions like Blue Ghost are generating new data on lunar surface conditions,” said Holcomb. “Especially the instrument of adhesion characterization to the regolito that will provide important data on how the lunar regolite can affect the spatial heritage. Ultimately, all the activity is more evidence that the moon has been the ethropocene herb itself”, “Etropocene.” By 2030. ”
It is the opinion of Rolfe Mandel, a senior scientist of KGS and a distinguished professor of the University in the Department of Anthropology, that although human migration out of Africa may have occurred as soon as 150000 years ago, “the repressions of space travel reprints” “” “” “” “” “” “” “” “” “” “” “” “” “”. “”
“We believe that all the material currently existing on extraterrestrial surfaces is spatial heritage and the worthy of protection,” said Holcomb. The first footprints on the moon at the base of tranquility in 1969 or the Viking 1 Mars Lander of the 1970s of NASA represent the material footprint of a pulmonary migration history, “he said.
National legislation
The focus on the protection of cultural heritage in the outer space is Michelle Hanlon, co -founder and executive director of All Moonkind, a former defender of the care of historical lunar landing sites.
“It is extremely gratifying to see that more and more organizations and countries express support for this idea,” Hanlon told Space.com.
For All Moonkind Worked With Senator Gary Peters On The First Ever National Legion That ACKNOWLEDGES THE READY OF HUMAN HUMANGEG Acordsthes, or Chordsche, or Chordsche, or Artemis, collects the need to preserve This inheritance.
Hopeful activity
“As a permanent observer for the United Nations Committee on the peaceful uses of outer space, we have bone legislation for the protection of cultural heritage in external space since 2018. And now we are beginning to see a very hopeful activity,” said Hanlon.
That UN Committee, copos for Short, recently established an action team on the consultation of lunar activities (ATLAC), said Hanlon, which is designed to promote dialogue between nations, space agencies and interested parties to guarantee moon.
“In particular, three countries, Poland, the United Kingdom and Armenia, propose that cultural heritage must be a central component of Atlac consultations,” said Hanlon. “This is a powerful recognition that the historical sites of the Moon are not only national achievements but milestones of universal value.”
Look your language!
The working group on spatial resources, also under copos, has further raised the conversation by including language, although in parentheses, about cultural heritage in its initial draft of principles achieved for spatial resources activities.
“This language, although it is still under negotiation, points out a growing recognition of the importance of safeguarding cultural heritage in external space,” Hanlon advised. “We hope that the copu -working group on long -term sustainability of outside space activities also addresses cultural heritage, since it considers its own next steps and recently presented an advice document for that purpose.”
It is important to remember, Hanlon said: “That we have to put the protection of cultural heritage in the appropriate legal context.”
The external space treaty requires that all states have free access to all areas of the Moon and other heavenly bodies “, therefore, any effort to protect Any The moon site is a violation of the treaty, “said Hanlon.” But we believe that the states of the members of the UNACPUO can work within this framework of the treaty to design access protocols that will protect our history. ”
