With the 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, the first moon landings coming up, and the prospect of having new lunar explorers, both state-sponsored and private companies. How do you protect what are arguably some of the most important scientific and cultural historic sites in human history?
You would think that the very position of the Apollo landing sites, the Russian lunokhods, and the Chinese Jade rabbit would be enough to keep them safe, but there is a similar parallel with a wreck of a Titanic. That sank in 1912 in 3800 meters, roughly 12,500 feet of water, its exact position unknown in what was thought to be an unattainable place, that was until its discovery in 1985, and within just a few years, treasure hunters were recovering artifacts in what many compared to as grave robbing or the plundering of the pyramids.
It’s far more difficult to get to the moon
Check out my article – Why did we stop going back to the moon? Here. Obviously, it’s far more difficult to get to the moon than the Titanic. Still, these days it’s not beyond the rich and powerful or other similarly advanced countries. You can imagine what a piece of Apollo 11 would be worth to a rich collector or finding Buzz Aldrin‘s boots on eBay.
The ones which he had to leave behind to help compensate for the extra 22 kilograms of moon rocks and soil they brought back, not the ones he might use to kick moon hoax believers with. But it’s not just for Salvage of the parts, which might be an issue. Apollo 12 did just that when they achieved a precise landing next to the Surveyor 3 probe and removed its TV camera and other parts, and brought them back to earth for examination.
In the vicinity of Apollo 12’s landing site
As Apollo 12 found out, just being in the vicinity of a landing site could damage not only the physical objects left behind but also things like those first footprints and trails left by Armstrong and Aldrin as they traversed a lunar surface. Without weather, wind, rain, or volcanic activity, those footprints could stay there undisturbed for hundreds of thousands or even millions of years unless, of course, they were hit by a meteor or filled in with dust from a nearby spacecraft landing.
Future space tourists in a historic landing area
Landing on the lunar surface can launch the highly abrasive lunar dust to speeds of several kilometers per second. With no air, resistance to slow it down, or much gravity to pull it back to the surface, it can easily travel tens or hundreds of kilometers and effectively sandblast anything it hits.
Any robotic Rovers, astronauts, or even future space tourists in a historic landing area could inadvertently contaminate or damage the original trails with extra dust or biological elements whilst they move around, and even hovering above the sites could also damage them. Whilst this all might seem a bit far off, consider the Google X PRIZE, which ran from 2007 and ended unresolved in March 2018.
They could get pictures of an Apollo landing site
It offered a $20 Million Prize for the first private team to land a spacecraft on the moon, travel at least 500 meters, and send back high-res pictures or videos. That had 10 registered entrants from different countries around the world they even offered a bonus prize if they could get pictures of an Apollo landing site. However, that was a bit of a contentious issue with NASA.
One of the things which scientists are very interested in is seeing how objects which were left behind fared. Even now, we have very little hard data on how harsh solar radiation, wide swings of temperature, and even micro meteors have affected the human-made objects over the decades since they were left.
Lunar explorers
So with the possibility of a new wave of lunar explorers, NASA and the US government have issued guidelines for US foreign space agencies and private companies. Now the Landers, Rovers, and other equipment left behind are still the governments’ property that places them there, and woe betides any American company that might want to get a piece of any American lunar mission to leave at Apollo or previous ones like the Ranger or surveyor ones. But it’s not like there are any guards there to stop anyone from trying to be that in person or by remote control.
Protection of the Apollo landing sites
But the land on which they are currently placed is a different matter. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty of the OST, the moon, the planets, the asteroids, and comets are all common land and are not owned by anyone, and are effectively open to everyone.
This was agreed upon to stop the land grab so often seen here on earth, and the ensuing battles are that legal or physical but followed. The problem now is that even if the U.S. attempts to amend or create new treaties that cover the Apollo sites’ protection for the scientific good.
Others will see it as the beginning of a way in which the U.S. could justify claiming the land for itself, and if the U.S. could do it, then the Russians, the Chinese, and even private space companies could try the same.
New lunar visitors
Previous agreements have taken up to 15 years to set up, and if it takes that long again, the chances are that the new lunar visitors will have already been there before they come into place. Also, there is still no real agreement in place for when private companies or foreign space agencies start to prospect and mine the moon, other than to leave the historic landing sites well alone.
But if anything is to go by, it’ll be able lawyers to make as much of killing as the future miners of the moon. So how do you think we should protect our space heritage on the moon or in space? Well, that’s it. Check out this article that reveals the inside of the Apollo Saturn V rocket and its significant components. See for yourself these fantastic drawings. You will be amazed.