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When NASA tried to return to the Moon for the first time in 50 years on the 8th JanuaryThere was more at risk than just $108 million (Rs 897 crore) in development and equipment.
The agency earned the ire of the Navajo Native American people, who attempted to stop the launch due to an unusual inclusion in the payload.
The Peregrine lander (which completed its controlled re-entry into the atmosphere end of last week) I was carrying human ashesincluding those of famous science fiction author Arthur Clarke. A trade association also allowed customers to pay to send their souvenirs to the Moon.
As space exploration becomes increasingly privatized and commercial, you can now send your favorite things to the Moon. But what does that mean, both ethically and legally?
The Moon open to the public
The American company Astrobotic owns the Peregrine, which is the size of a small car. He met with fatal fuel problems shortly after being launched on the Vulcan Centaur rocket from Cape Canaveral.
On board there are “toilet boats”. the idea came in a society between the company and the global transport company DHL.
Under the agreement, anyone can send a package measuring two and a half centimeters by five centimeters to the lunar surface for less than $500 (Rs 41,580). In addition to size, there were some other limitations on what each package could contain.
Astrobotic, founded in 2007 and headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, is one of several American companies providing commercial lunar payload services to NASA to bring science and technology to the Moon. Peregrine also wore Scientific instruments from six countries and many scientific teams.
Perhaps surprisingly, sending ash into space is not new to suborbital and Earth orbital flights.
Two American companies market this service starting at a few thousand dollars. celestis and Elysian Space. Many adopt the practice, including astronauts who have been to space.
A moon burial (yes, you can buy one) costs more: around $13,000 (Rs 10.8 lakh).
Commercial payloads launched from US soil require approvalbut that approval process only covers security, national security and foreign policy.
Peregrine, if made, would have marked the first commercial lunar burial. It is an unexplored territory in which other worlds become within our reach, although it is not the first time it has arisen.
NASA committed to future consultations after Navajo protests when it carried some of Eugene Shoemaker’s ashes to the moon aboard the Lunar Prospector probe 20 years ago. Like many other indigenous cultures, the Navajo Nation considers the Moon to be sacred and opposes using it as a memorial site.
However, NASA said in a press conference that I had no control about what was in Peregrine, highlighting the gaps between commercial companies and international space law.
A legal minefield
Another issue concerns each country’s rules on where and how human ashes can be located, handled and transported and how they might spread into space. For example, in Germany, the ashes must be buried in a cemetery.
As the privatization of space accelerates, the ethical and legal labyrinth deepens.
The Outer Space Treaty (OST) declare space the “province of all mankind” while prohibiting national appropriation.
However, it does not address what private companies and individuals can do.
The recent Artemis Accords, signed by 32 nations, expands protection to historically important lunar sites. But these protections only apply to governments, not trade missions.
And no one owns the Moon to grant burial rights, nor any other world or celestial body.
The treaty requires states to authorize and supervise activities in space. It requires “due consideration” for the interests of other states.
Many countries have space laws that include reasons for rejecting payload items that are not in their national interest, e.g. Indonesia and New Zealand.
Nations that apparently do not have that consideration, including Australia and the United States, may need to consider expanding this model with the rise of the commercial world in a traditionally governmental setting.
Where to draw a line?
Earth’s orbit is already clogged by missing satellites and, further away, elements such as Elon Musk’s Tesla.
We have already extended space probes to other worlds, including the Moon, Mars, Titan and Venus, but there is still much more that could be done. treasure instead of trashaccording to space archaeologist Alice Gorman.
For example, the Apollo astronauts left official mementos, such as a plaque marking the first human steps on the lunar surface. Some have also left behind personal matters, such as Charles Duke of Apollo 16, who left a framed family photo.
However, sending a haircut or your dog’s ashes to the Moon may not qualify as culturally and historically important.
The problem, therefore, is where we want to draw a line in the sand when we go out into the cosmos to the shores of other worlds.
We cannot turn back the clock on private space companies, nor should we.
But this failed mission with ashes and payloads of vanity exemplifies the unexplored issues in the legal and ethical infrastructure to support commercial activities.
It’s worth stopping to think about future commercialization, such as asteroid mining and the eventual colonization of space.
Carol OlivierProfessor of Scientific Communication and Astrobiology, UNSW Sydney
This article is republished from The conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the Original article.