NASA warns Moon’s resources could be ‘destroyed by thoughtless exploitation’
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Science and business are heading for an astronomical clash – over the future exploration of the moon and the exploitation of its resources. The celestial skirmish threatens to break out over companies’ plans to launch dozens of probes to survey the lunar landscape over the next few years. An early pioneer – Peregrine mission one – is set for launch on Monday.
The aim of this extraterrestrial armada – largely funded through Nasa’s $2.6bn Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) initiative – is to survey the moon so that minerals, water and other resources can be extracted to build permanent, habitable bases there. These would later provide a springboard for manned missions to Mars.
But astronomers have warned that an unrestricted rush to exploit the moon could cause irreparable damage to precious scientific sites. Gravitational wave research, black hole observations, studies to pinpoint life on tiny worlds that orbit distant stars, and other research could be jeopardised, they say.
“The issue has become urgent,” Martin Elvis, of the Center for Astrophysics, Harvard & Smithsonian, told the Observer. “We need to act now because decisions made today will set the tone for our future behaviour on the moon.”
This point was backed by astronomer Professor Richard Green, of the University of Arizona. “We are not trying to block the building of lunar bases. However, there are only a handful of promising sites there and some of these are incredibly precious scientifically. We need to be very, very careful where we build our mines and bases.”
Later this month, a working group – recently set up by the International Astronomical Union and headed by Green – will meet UN officials to start negotiations that would, it is hoped, lead to a strengthening of legislation for protecting interplanetary resources. The 1967 Outer Space Treaty prevents nations from making territorial claims on celestial bodies, but says nothing about space mining and exploitation of resources, the journal Science warned recently.
At present, the building of moon bases and mines is still a distant goal for space engineers. Prospecting for resources is only beginning – although it will soon make headlines. Apart from Peregrine, many other lunar probes are scheduled for launch this year as the Nasa CLPS programme begins in earnest. Many, like Peregrine, will be built and launched by private companies and will include Viper, a robot rover that will survey the moon’s south pole; Lunar Trailblazer that will survey its surface for water; and Artemis II which is scheduled to put a four-person crew in lunar orbit later this year.
