Moon placed on ‘endangered’ checklist over fears Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos might break it
The Moon has been put on a list of endangered sites over fears linked to the growth of private lunar missions funded by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and other tech pioneers
The Moon has been put on a list of endangered heritage sites amid fears Elon Musk and his space cronies could ruin it.
Science boffs fear the moon could be damaged badly if private space firms continue trying to get to it and pilfer away parts of it. The World Monuments Fund say there are 90 key areas where hundreds of artefacts are currently laying strewn across its surface.
Heritage chiefs fear the new era of space flight, led by the likes of Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos’ firms, will trample over and erase historic 1960s and 70s landings.
They are now seeking for rules to protect areas on the celestial body – including putting protection orders on areas such as Tranquility Base, the site of the first moon landing in 1969, which still has Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin’s footprints in the dust.
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Benedicte de Montlaur, the World Monument Fund’s president, said: “The moon seems so far outside of our scope. But with humans venturing more and more into space, we think it is the right time to get ourselves organised.
“It’s the first time that we have received an outer-space nomination, and for us it was a surprise too. There is definitely momentum and it is indeed very timely because we are entering a new age of space exploration.”
NASA plans to put humans back on the moon this decade through its Artemis missions. The space agency also wants to build a permanent base on Earth’s natural satellite to help prepare for possible human missions to Mars.
Other countries are also pushing for lunar missions.
