The World Monuments Fund is concerned about protecting the cultural heritage of the Moon from tourists

For many years, the World Monuments Fund has sought to bring attention and resources to endangered cultural heritage sites, including Machu Picchu in Peru, temples in Cambodia and the old city of Taiz in Yemen. But this year’s list of risk targets extends much further: to the Moon. The organization said more than 90 important sites on the Moon could be destroyed if space tourism is not regulated now.

Image source: Hulu

The new space race could worsen the problem of space debris and expand tourism in orbit and beyond, which is why the World Monuments Fund has added Earth’s satellite to its list of 25 endangered objects. All of these sites are under threat to one degree or another due to climate change, tourism, military conflicts and natural disasters.

With more wealthy people going into space and more countries and companies exploring space, more than 90 important sites on the Moon could be affected. In particular, researchers are concerned about the fate of Tranquility Base, the Apollo 11 landing site where man first walked on the lunar surface.

The Soviet “Lunokhod” has been on the Moon for 50 years – the pride of the USSR – the first self-propelled vehicle to study the Earth’s satellite.

Image source: digitalocean.ru

And recently, a SpaceX rocket delivered 25 miniature stainless steel sculptures to the lunar surface, depicting the various phases of the Moon by artist Jeff Koons.

Image source: Jeff Koons

Over the past five years, 52 countries have signed the Artemis Accords, a non-binding agreement that sets out principles and norms for human behavior in space. The agreement includes a call to preserve space heritage, including “robotic landing sites, artifacts, spacecraft and other evidence of activity on celestial bodies.” A separate binding United Nations agreement provided for the protection of lunar objects, but no progress was made in signing it.

According to experts, another danger to the Moon may come from failed satellites falling onto its surface, since the Earth’s satellite does not have an atmosphere in which they could burn up.

Issues of protecting cultural heritage are usually decided by individual countries, making it difficult to care for important international sites such as the Moon. “The moon seems so far away from our capabilities,” said the organization’s president and CEO Bénédicte de Montlaur. “But as people go into space more and more, we think now is the time to organize.”

Image source: unsplash.com

«The moon does not belong to anyone,” de Montlaur emphasized. “It’s a symbol of hope and the future.”

While many experts agree on the need to protect the lunar legacy, some experts question whether there is an immediate threat.