Potential looting and commercial trips pose risk to artefacts left by lunar landings, says World Monuments Fund

Summary

The moon has been added to the World Monuments Fund’s (WMF) list of threatened heritage sites for the first time due to risks from commercial and governmental lunar activities.

The WMF highlights concerns about looting and damage to artefacts from Apollo missions, such as Neil Armstrong’s footprints and objects left on the moon.

WMF calls for international protocols to protect lunar heritage as private space tourism and missions increase.

The 2024 list also includes sites in conflict zones and areas endangered by climate change or unsustainable tourism.

    • deranger@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
      1·
      5 hours ago

      .0000000000000003 atm or 0.3 nanopascals of atmosphere.

      On Earth, this is considered to be a very good vacuum. In fact, the density of the atmosphere at the Moon’s surface is comparable to the density of some of the outermost fringes of Earth’s atmosphere, where the International Space Station orbits.

      the Moon is considered not to have an atmosphere because it cannot absorb measurable quantities of radiation, does not appear layered or self-circulating, and requires constant replenishment due to the high rate at which its gases are lost into space.

      I feel like saying the moon technically has an atmosphere is like saying an astronaut has an atmosphere if they farted in space sans spacesuit because some gas lingers around them.

      • einkorn@feddit.orgEnglish
        11·
        5 hours ago

        Except they won’t because the gravitational pull generated by a human body is so low that the gases expelled are likely moving faster than escape velocity.