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.
Is this a real problem? Who’s looting stuff at the moon? And so what if somebody take some of the stuff we left there? Like does the frequency of landings at the moon merit this?
Who is this worried about something we can barely visit? This is the dumbest thing.
It’s pretty easy to declare it a protected site, so why not do it before it’s a problem? China and India have already launched robotic moon missions. The Apollo landing site is a significant monument for humanity
It’s preparation.
Now that human craft have finally made it back to the moon for the first time in decades, human beings and development are set to follow.