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.

      • einkorn@feddit.orgEnglish
        64·
        9 小时前

        Not having an atmosphere doesn’t mean that gases and particles will simply vanish. The moon just doesn’t have enough of a gravitational pull to keep them around for long.

        • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.worldEnglish
          52·
          9 小时前

          You’re describing the act of something vanishing to be honest though.

          The moon doesn’t have enough gravity to hold an atmosphere, it’ll always vanish.

          • einkorn@feddit.orgEnglish
            26·
            9 小时前

            Over time yes. But not instantaneous. So depending on the amount, it is possible to have smog on the moon.

            • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.worldEnglish
              42·
              9 小时前

              Yes in the same way you can “survive” in the vacuum of space. The moon doesn’t have the gravity potential to hold an atmosphere, so while smog may “appear” it’s be gone just like the person who was alive in the vacuum of space for a few minutes as well.

              But that doesn’t mean people can and should claim People can live in the vacuum of space now does it?

              • einkorn@feddit.orgEnglish
                25·
                8 小时前

                I really don’t understand what you are trying to say here. Yes, the process of diffusion is faster on the moon, but even on earth every second lighter parts of the atmosphere escapes into space (and heavier particles that pass by are attracted by gravity).

                • SchmidtGenetics@lemmy.worldEnglish
                  32·
                  8 小时前

                  It’s not faster on the moon, there’s no restriction because of the lack of atmosphere.

                  You need gravity for an atmosphere, and you need an atmosphere to hold other particles. Without both, you CANT have “smog”.

                  Edit, your line of reasoning isn’t that you think it’s possible to terraform the moon or something is it?

                  • einkorn@feddit.orgEnglish
                    13·
                    8 小时前

                    But the moon has its own gravity field. Just not enough to keep a permanent atmosphere. Also, not having an atmosphere doesn’t mean the space above the surface is devoid of matter. In fact, even in interstellar space, you can find particles. And an atmosphere is not something that’s holding particles in. An atmosphere is made up of particles in a dense field gravitationally bound to a celestial body.

        • deranger@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
          71·
          9 小时前

          The moon doesn’t have sufficient gravity to maintain an atmosphere. Any smog will float out into space, like helium on earth.

            • deranger@sh.itjust.worksEnglish
              11·
              6 小时前

              .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
                21·
                6 小时前

                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.