Protecting Historic Sites On The Moon [merged]

[Waspie_Dwarf]

NASA Offers Guidelines To Protect Historic Sites On The Moon

NASA and the X Prize Foundation of Playa Vista, Calif., announced Thursday the Google Lunar X Prize is recognizing guidelines established by NASA to protect lunar historic sites and preserve ongoing and future science on the moon. The foundation will take the guidelines into account as it judges mobility plans submitted by 26 teams vying to be the first privately-funded entity to visit the moon.

NASA recognizes that many spacefaring nations and commercial entities are on the verge of landing spacecraft on the moon. The agency engaged in a cooperative dialogue with the X Prize Foundation and the Google Lunar X Prize teams to develop the recommendations. NASA and the next generation of lunar explorers share a common interest in preserving humanity's first steps on another celestial body and protecting ongoing science from the potentially damaging effects of nearby landers.

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[Space Commander Travis]

ha! Finally the truth is coming out, see! Why would they want to establish that if they didn't know something we didn't. i know they say they're talking about Neil Armstrong's footprints and so on, but is that a camouflage for admitting that there are other Historic sites out there, like the Pyramids and the Grand Wall of China and so on ....... ?

[/conspiracy mode]

[Dirty Bubble]

Don't see why this is really an issue, these sites are of the up-most importance.

Just as you don't go and build a housing estate at Stone Henge so these sites need to be protected.

[ThickasaBrick]

Preserving the moon landing sites should be a priority. The only way to destroy them would be through human mistake, unless there is a random collision with a meteor. As Dirty says, we wouldn't want to see houses invade our landmarks. Does it make it any less important that it is not on the surface of the Earth?

[Waspie_Dwarf]

Preserving the moon landing sites should be a priority. The only way to destroy them would be through human mistake

Which is the whole point if this agreement.

Where I will disagree with you is that I think it less likely that these sites will be damaged by accident, profit is a more likely reason. There are already 26 private groups that believe they can land a spacecraft on the moon. They are doing it to win a $30 million prize. Once that prize is won there will still be a lot of private organisations with th ability to land a vehicle on the moon. How long before they have the ability to return samples? Bringing back lunar rock for collectors could be a profitable business, but imagine how much a piece of the Apollo 11 lunar module would sell for, or a piece of the flag.

There are legitimate, scientific reasons why NASA might want to return some objects to the Earth. Examining how materials have fared after more than 4 decades on the lunar surface would be tremendously useful knowledge which could be applied to the design of future moon bases. That knowledge could be lost if a bunch of profiteers have got there first.

[Coffey]

I personally think the moon itself should be treated that way instead of countries now claiming parts of the moon. I understand why these things are a big deal, but surely when we step off Earth we are all under one banner representing Humanity. Seems the US goverment don't want that even in space.

[Waspie_Dwarf]

I personally think the moon itself should be treated that way instead of countries now claiming parts of the moon. I understand why these things are a big deal, but surely when we step off Earth we are all under one banner representing Humanity. Seems the US goverment don't want that even in space.

I'm really not sure what your point is. It's not very clear exactly what relevance your attack on the US government has to this story or indeed, in relation to space exploration, reality. You seem to be unaware that under international law no nation may claim ownership of the moon. You seem to be unaware that international law states that the exploration of space shall be for the benefit of all nations.

The Outer Space Treaty of 1967 (of which the USA is a signatory) includes the following:

Article I

The exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shallbe the province of all mankind.

Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.

There shall be freedom of scientific investigation in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and States shall facilitate and encourage international co-operation in such investigation.

Article II

Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies,is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.

[Still Waters]

The moon is about to become crowded.

In the next few years a slew of countries, including China, India, and Japan, are looking to put unmanned probes on the lunar surface. But more unprecedented are the 26 teams currently racing to win the Google Lunar X Prize – a contest that will award $20 million to the first private company to land a robot on the lunar surface, travel a third of a mile, and send back a high-definition image before 2015.

With all this activity, NASA is somewhat nervous about its own lunar history. The agency recently released a set of guidelines that aim to preserve important heritage locations such as the Apollo landing and Ranger impact sites. The report, available since 2011 to members of the private spaceflight community, was publicly posted at NASA’s website and officially accepted by the X Prize foundation on May 24.

http://www.wired.com...oon-guidelines/

[Daveisback]

All the the Apollo landing sites need to be preserved and some of the other sites like the Lunokhod and Surveyor landers need to be preserved as well. They are apart of Humanity's heritage in space.