tag:theconversation.com,2011:/us/topics/buzz-aldrin-57054/articlesBuzz Aldrin – The Conversation2024-03-06T17:45:13Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2243872024-03-06T17:45:13Z2024-03-06T17:45:13ZSpacesuits need a major upgrade for the next phase of exploration<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579865/original/file-20240305-18-mik4ri.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C3822%2C2160&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/news-release/nasa-taps-axiom-space-for-first-artemis-moonwalking-spacesuits/">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Humans have long dreamed of setting foot on the Moon and other planetary bodies such as Mars. Since the 1960s, space travellers have donned suits designed to protect them from the vacuum of space and stepped out into the unknown.</p>
<p>However, <a href="https://spacenews.com/polaris-dawn-private-astronaut-mission-slips-to-mid-2024/">the Polaris Dawn mission</a>, which is to include the first spacewalk organised by a private company, has been delayed. This is due to complications with the design and development of a suitable spacesuit. </p>
<p>Moon suits are also one of the key elements of Nasa’s Artemis lunar programme that have yet to be delivered. A report released in November 2023 said that the contractor making the suits is having <a href="https://www.gao.gov/products/gao-24-106256#:%7E:text=To%20develop%20Artemis%20space%20suits,report%20examining%20the%20Artemis%20enterprise.">to revisit aspects of the design provided by Nasa</a>, which could introduce delays.</p>
<p>Yet <a href="https://time.com/5802128/alexei-leonov-spacewalk-obstacles/">the first spacewalk</a>, by the Soviet cosmonaut Alexei Leonov, took place in 1965. Later, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/the-apollo-program/">12 Nasa astronauts would walk on the lunar surface</a>, between 1969 and 1972, using technology that would be eclipsed by today’s smartphones. So it’s not unreasonable to ask why it can still be difficult to design and build spacesuits to do the same thing.</p>
<p>Much has changed since the Apollo missions planted flags on the Moon. The <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/video/2024/01/20/us-china-india-japan-and-others-are-rushing-back-to-the-moon.html">geopolitics driving space travel have shifted</a>, and spacesuits are no longer expected to be just a form of protection. Instead, they are a critical way to improve the productivity of astronauts. This involves a rethink of not just the suits themselves, but the technology that supports them.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Crew Dragon approaching the ISS" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/579872/original/file-20240305-30-sdnkjj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Polaris Dawn mission uses modified version of the Crew Dragon spacecraft to perform the first commercial spacewalk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/view-of-spacex-crew-dragon-endeavour-approaching-station/">Nasa</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>An array of powerful telecommunications technologies to connect astronauts with space stations and ground control sits alongside multisensory cameras, temperature readers and proximity sensors in present-day spacesuits.</p>
<p>Situational awareness – understanding key elements in the environment, such as the health of an astronaut – is a core tenet for modern spacesuit design and critical for the operator’s safety. The ability of a suit to track heart rate and other vital signs is important in a vacuum, where levels of oxygen need constant monitoring. </p>
<p>Expectations around the risks astronauts take have changed for the better. And the level of investment it takes to produce a spacesuit necessitates that it can be used for future tasks that may include lunar settlement in the next few decades.</p>
<p>The trade off that engineers must make when incorporating wearable technology like those already mentioned is weight. Will greater situational awareness result in a spacesuit that is too heavy to move in effectively? </p>
<p>When Elon Musk first hinted at challenges with the extravehicular activity spacesuit for Polaris Dawn <a href="https://twitter.com/SpaceX/status/1745941814165815717">in a presentation to SpaceX employees in January</a>, it was not difficulties with connected technology that he discussed, but of redesigning “the suit so that you actually move around in it”.</p>
<h2>Situational awareness</h2>
<p>However, when talking about mobility in a spacesuit, you need to consider the tasks that you want that mobility to support. </p>
<p>Before the advent of modern spacesuits, Apollo astronauts struggled to carry out missions. When drilling into the surface of the Moon with a hand drill to collect samples, astronauts found it difficult to provide enough downwards force to counteract the Moon’s weaker gravity. It was not until the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0094576522002879">invention of a zero-gravity drill</a>, decades later, that this problem would be addressed.</p>
<p>The current exploration of <a href="https://digital-library.theiet.org/content/books/ce/pbce131e">pneumatic exoskeletons</a>, providing the support necessary for movement in low gravity could be part of a solution. However, newer spacesuits may also need to interface with hardware, like robotic drills that exist outside the suit. This will also necessitate more mobility in spacesuits. </p>
<h2>Working with robots</h2>
<p>Offloading tasks, previously carried out by humans, to robots will be part of the future of space exploration. It’s a primary way that engineers will also be able to enhance the mobility of astronauts in spacesuits.</p>
<p>For example, when an astronaut goes on a spacewalk to inspect the condition of part of a space station and make any possible repairs, they are supported by a robotic arm that ensures they don’t float off into space. While jointed, this arm is rigid and can limit an astronaut’s movement.</p>
<p>An approach currently being explored to extend this range of movement is a climbing robot, that is attached to both the astronaut and the space station, that an individual can control through their spacesuit. This would allow the astronaut to move around the space station faster and with a greater range of movement than before, allowing them to reach and repair hard-to-access areas like corners.</p>
<p>While the eventual hope is that robots themselves can assess any damage to the space station and repair it, due to possible disruptions in normal operations, humans must be ready to step in. Possible disruptions could be natural, like a small meteor shower damaging the robot, or human-made, like hacking carried by a hostile group or state.</p>
<p>For the types of activities we want to accomplish in the future, this human-robot collaboration will be instrumental. Building a base on the Moon, as both <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/four-things-weve-learned-about-nasas-planned-base-camp-on-the-moon-180980589/">the US</a> and <a href="https://spacenews.com/china-attracts-moon-base-partners-outlines-project-timelines/">China</a> plan to do, will involve construction work and drilling, which humans will not be able to accomplish alone. Modern spacesuits will need to provide an interface to work with this new technology, and we can expect the suits to evolve in step with robotics.</p>
<p>The relationship between humans and robots is changing. It will go beyond spacewalks and robots’ previous uses as limited tools, to a situation where they are cooperative partners in space. The objectives of ten or 20 years from now, like building lunar settlements, exploring mineral deposits on the Moon and efficiently repairing space station modules can only be achieved using robotics. </p>
<p>Modern spacesuits will be a key foundation of this collaborative relationship, forming the interface where astronauts and robots can work together to achieve shared goals. So when we do once again leave our footprints on other worlds, we will no longer be alone.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224387/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Yang Gao has received funding from UKRI, UKSA and ESA on conducting space related research. </span></em></p>The next generation of spacesuit needs to do more than simply protect an astronaut from the vacuum of space.Yang Gao, Professor of Robotics, Head of Centre for Robotics Research, King's College LondonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2177202023-11-17T17:18:15Z2023-11-17T17:18:15ZEarthrise: historian uncovers the true origins of the ‘image of the century’<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560179/original/file-20231117-24-a4qtm4.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=9%2C9%2C2035%2C1523&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The restored image of Earthrise. A high quality black and white image was coloured using hues from the original colour photos.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap181224.html">Image Credit: NASA, Apollo 8 Crew, Bill Anders; Processing and License: Jim Weigang</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The recent <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/nov/10/frank-borman-commander-first-apollo-moon-mission-dies-aged-95">death of Frank Borman</a>, commander of Nasa’s <a href="https://nasa.gov/missions/apollo/apollo-8-mission-details/">Apollo 8 mission in 1968</a>, has focused attention on that incredible first voyage to the Moon. </p>
<p>It took place eight months before <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission/apollo-11/">Apollo 11</a>, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin explored the lunar surface for the first time. However, the impact of Apollo 8’s “Earthrise” picture – the sight of the Earth from the Moon – now seems even greater than that of the first landing. </p>
<p>For many years, the story behind the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/apollo-8-earthrise/">famous Earthrise photo</a>, was that the crew were caught off-guard by the blue orb rising from behind the Moon. But <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-story-behind-apollo-8s-famous-earthrise-photo/">even if they were preoccupied</a>, the astronauts knew it was coming.</p>
<p>Another unforgettable event during the mission was a reading by the crew <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/resources/318/apollo-8-genesis-reading/">from the Book of Genesis</a>, broadcast to the world at Christmas. Detailed research I’ve conducted in Nasa’s archives has revealed more clearly how much planning lay behind these dramatic moments. The famous Earthrise picture, a wonky snap taken in a hurry, was improvised, but it had been anticipated. </p>
<h2>Earthrise restored</h2>
<p>After entering lunar orbit, they nearly missed seeing the Earth. Only on the fourth orbit, when the capsule flipped round 180 degrees to point forwards, did they notice it. Borman confirmed to me that at that moment they were “taken by surprise – too busy with lunar observation on the first three orbits”.</p>
<p>But the <a href="https://historycollection.jsc.nasa.gov/JSCHistoryPortal/history/oral_histories/UnderwoodRW/underwoodrw.htm">Apollo programme’s director of photography, Dick Underwood</a>, was anxious to set the wider record straight. He explained: “Hours were spent with the lunar crews, including the Apollo 8 crew, in briefing on exactly how to set up the camera, which film to use … these briefings were most comprehensive.” </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="The Apollo 8 crew." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559679/original/file-20231115-21-97wwdu.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Apollo 8 crew presenting the Earthrise picture to the governor of Texas, John Connally, in 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nasa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>There were, however, battles within Nasa about what images the astronauts should focus on, with the management insisting on shots of <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/alsj/a410/A08_PressKit.pdf">lunar geology and potential landing sites</a>. Dick Underwood explained: “I argued hard for a shot of Earthrise, and we had impressed upon the astronauts that we definitely wanted it.” </p>
<p>Borman was joined on the mission by two other astronauts: Jim Lovell, who was the command module pilot, and Bill Anders, who had the title of lunar module pilot. Nasa had intended for Apollo 8 to test the lunar module, but it was behind schedule so the mission didn’t take one.</p>
<p>At the pre-launch press conference, Borman had looked forward to getting “good views of the Earth from the Moon” and Lovell to seeing “the Earth set and the Earth rise”. </p>
<p>The official mission plan directed the astronauts to take photos of Earth, but only as the lowest priority. When the key moment came, the astronauts were indeed taken by surprise, but not for long. </p>
<p>Anders was at a side window taking photos of craters using a camera with black and white film when he saw the Earth rise from behind the Moon. “Look at that picture over there! Here’s the Earth coming up,” <a href="https://science.nasa.gov/resource/the-story-behind-apollo-8s-famous-earthrise-photo/">Anders exclaimed</a>.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=486&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/559678/original/file-20231115-23-nzbbhx.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=610&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Bill Anders’ first picture of Earthrise.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Anders quickly took a sharp shot of the Earth emerging above the lunar horizon. Then he and Lovell argued briefly over who should have the colour film camera, while Borman tried to calm them down. </p>
<p>It was Anders who took the blurry, hastily framed, overexposed <a href="https://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap020127.html">colour shot of Earthrise</a>, later dubbed the <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2018/dec/22/behold-blue-plant-photograph-earthrise">image of the century</a>. But in the other camera was a much better shot, long ignored because it was in black and white.</p>
<p>That first mono image was spot-on. A restored “Earthrise” photo, recently coloured by experts using the later shots as a reference, conveys the stunning sight beheld by the astronauts.</p>
<p>This shot, revealing the Earth as a majestic but fragile oasis. As Lovell mused: “The loneliness out here is awe-inspiring … it makes us realise what you have back on Earth.” For Borman too it was “intensely emotional … We said nothing to each other, but maybe we shared another thought I had: ‘This must be what God sees.’”</p>
<h2>The Genesis reading</h2>
<p>In 1968, as now, space travel was viewed as a scientific and technological domain. But the mission was also sent by one of the world’s <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christianity_in_the_United_States#:%7E:text=Christianity%20is%20the%20most%20prevalent,is%20Christian%20(210%20million).">most strongly Christianised countries</a>, and the crew was not about to leave its cultural background behind.</p>
<p>It was a point of pride at Nasa that, whereas Soviet cosmonauts were <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20210406-how-russias-cosmonauts-trained-for-space">tightly
monitored and controlled</a>, their own astronauts were free to speak their minds. Extraordinary as it now seems, they were left to decide for themselves what to say in their historic live broadcast from lunar orbit.</p>
<p>Borman knew that he had to come up with something special for the Christmas broadcast. A few weeks beforehand, he was told by a press officer: “We figure more people will be listening to your voice (during the broadcast) than that of any man in history. So we want you to say something appropriate.” </p>
<p>While Neil Armstrong’s “one small step” message was <a href="https://time.com/5621999/neil-armstrong-quote/">carefully considered inside Nasa</a>, no one in the agency knew in advance what Borman would say.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Earthrise" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=527&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/560186/original/file-20231117-25-yelyw3.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=662&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The original Earthrise photo.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Nasa</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>With only two minutes left before radio contact was lost as the spacecraft passed behind the Moon, Anders said: “The crew of Apollo 8 have a message that we would like to send to you.” </p>
<p>He then <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ToHhQUhdyBY">read from the Book of Genesis</a>: “In the beginning, God created the heaven and the Earth; and the Earth was without form and void.” He continued: “God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.” </p>
<p>Lovell and Borman took over to read the next verses, and Borman signed off: “Merry Christmas, and God bless all of you – all of you on the good Earth.”</p>
<p>As Apollo 8 dipped out of radio contact, the world was left to absorb the impact. “For those moments I felt the presence of creation and the creator,” Nasa’s <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/eugene-kranz">chief flight director Gene Kranz</a> later recalled. “Tears were on my cheeks.” </p>
<p>Somehow Borman and his colleagues found the perfect words to convey
their experience. But Borman had thought about the assignment carefully, asking a <a href="https://airandspace.si.edu/collection-archive/apollo-8-and-11-notes-and-letters-bourgin/sova-nasm-1995-0025">publicist friend to help out with the text</a>. </p>
<p>This was Simon Bourgin, science policy officer at the US Information Agency. Bourgin in turn asked a journalist, Joe Laitin, who <a href="https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/how-apollo-8-delivered-moment-christmas-eve-peace-and-understanding-world-180976431/">mentioned the task to his wife, Christine</a>. </p>
<p>She looked in the Old Testament and suggested: “Why don’t you begin at the beginning?” She recognised the primeval power of the creation story in the first book of Genesis, with its evocative description of the Earth. </p>
<p>Borman immediately recognised that this was just right, and had it typed up. He had superbly vindicated Nasa’s trust in him. </p>
<p>While inspiration and a degree of freedom were involved in the Earthrise photo and Genesis reading, behind their execution lay careful planning and professionalism.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/217720/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Robert Poole does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Borman’s professionalism helped the risky Apollo 8 mission become a success.Robert Poole, Professor of History, University of Central LancashireLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2073002023-07-17T12:26:40Z2023-07-17T12:26:40ZWhat do astronomers say about Moon landing deniers? Batting down the conspiracy theory with an assist from the 1969 Miracle Mets<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/534471/original/file-20230628-29982-y7rpar.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C7%2C4960%2C3890&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Astronaut Buzz Aldrin planted the U.S. flag on the Moon on July 20, 1969.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/buzz-aldrin-on-the-moon-with-the-american-flag-1969-artist-news-photo/1268487289?adppopup=true">Heritage Images/Hulton Archive via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><figure class="align-left ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=293&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/281719/original/file-20190628-76743-26slbc.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=368&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<span class="caption"></span>
</figcaption>
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<p><em><a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/curious-kids-us-74795">Curious Kids</a> is a series for children of all ages. If you have a question you’d like an expert to answer, send it to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">curiouskidsus@theconversation.com</a>.</em></p>
<hr>
<blockquote>
<p><strong>What do astronomers have to say about the Moon landing conspiracy theories? – Prisha M., age 14, Mumbai, India</strong></p>
</blockquote>
<hr>
<p>Back in 1969 – more than a half-century ago – Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html">landed on the Moon</a>.</p>
<p>At least that’s what most people think. </p>
<p>But a few still insist that humans <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/959480/belief-that-the-moon-landing-was-faked/">did not land on the Moon</a>. </p>
<p>Should you believe them? How can you know that astronauts really did go to the Moon?</p>
<p>Let’s address this question by putting it side by side with another stunning event of the same year: the New York Mets’ <a href="https://www.pinterest.com/pin/399131585702322525/">shocking win in baseball’s World Series</a>. They beat the Baltimore Orioles, four games to one.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535421/original/file-20230703-268876-4m7dmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Fans race around a baseball field." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535421/original/file-20230703-268876-4m7dmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535421/original/file-20230703-268876-4m7dmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535421/original/file-20230703-268876-4m7dmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535421/original/file-20230703-268876-4m7dmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=402&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535421/original/file-20230703-268876-4m7dmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535421/original/file-20230703-268876-4m7dmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535421/original/file-20230703-268876-4m7dmo.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=505&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Jubilant fans take over the field after the Mets win the 1969 World Series.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/world-series-champion-new-york-mets-dash-for-safety-of-the-news-photo/515291486?adppopup=true">Bettmann via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Another miracle</h2>
<p>But how do you know that? How can you be sure? After all, up until 1969, the Mets <a href="https://www.nbcsports.com/mlb/news/the-1969-mets-the-greatest-cinderella-story-in-baseball-history">were a terrible team</a>. They won the fewest games in the major leagues in 1967, and the third-fewest in 1968. It seems very unlikely they could have won the championship the very next year.</p>
<p>What if someone said that it didn’t happen? That the Mets instead lost the series to the Orioles? That the claim the Mets won is just a hoax, a canard, a fake story?</p>
<p>Is it possible to prove they’re wrong?</p>
<h2>Seen on TV</h2>
<p>First: Millions of Americans watched the World Series on television – approximately 11 million to 17 million viewers per game, <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/World_Series_television_ratings">according to Nielsen ratings</a>. Many of those people are still alive today and remember seeing the Mets win. </p>
<p>Why would all of them lie? That doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>Now consider this: More than 600 million people around the world <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/15/business/media/apollo-11-television-media.html">watched the Moon landing on TV</a>. </p>
<h2>Seen at stadiums</h2>
<p>But a skeptic might say “so what” – maybe the entire World Series was somehow faked, re-created in a TV studio. </p>
<p>Yet ticket records document more than 250,000 people <a href="https://www.baseball-almanac.com/ws/yr1969ws.shtml">saw the games in person</a>. Along with them were hundreds of TV, radio and newspaper reporters and support personnel who also witnessed the action directly. Many of them are still alive today, and every one of them agrees that the Mets won.</p>
<p>Why would all of them lie? That doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>Now consider this: More than 400,000 people <a href="https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20190617-apollo-in-50-numbers-the-workers#:%7E">worked on the Apollo program</a> – scientists, engineers, researchers and support staff along with the astronauts. </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/gg5Ncc9GODY?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Live from the Moon – July 20, 1969.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Even the opposition agreed</h2>
<p>So a skeptic might claim the New York media, or some other corporate entity, set up fake broadcasts and fake fans for some nefarious purpose. And the reason no one talks – well, maybe everyone was paid off. </p>
<p>Although the New York newspapers and TV stations may have wanted the Mets to win, the Baltimore reporters and broadcasters, and especially the players and fans, did not. </p>
<p>Yet all of them – even the players – admitted their team had lost. If the Series was a sham, why didn’t a single one of them who opposed the Mets expose the fraud?</p>
<p>Why would all of them lie? That doesn’t make sense.</p>
<p>Now consider this: The Soviet Union was the United States’ rival in the Space Race – it wanted to be the first on the Moon. But the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eQ15AMgZkqk">Soviet government told its citizens</a> on radio and television and <a href="https://www.osaarchivum.org/blog/men-walk-on-the-moon">in newspaper articles</a> in July 1969 that U.S. astronauts had landed on the Moon. Soviet President Nikolai Podgorny even sent a telegram to U.S. President Richard Nixon <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/AAchronologies/1969.pdf">offering his congratulations</a>.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/JmjuuQQX3Z4?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">See for yourself: Did the 1969 Mets really do it?</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Score cards and Moon rocks</h2>
<p>At this point, a skeptic might change tactics and say all of this evidence is just hearsay, and you can’t trust people. </p>
<p>But consider the hard physical objects preserved from the Series. At the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, you can find <a href="http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/ws_programs/ws_program_1969_game_5.htm">score cards</a> and <a href="http://exhibits.baseballhalloffame.org/ws_programs/images/1969_mets_cover.htm">programs</a> from the games, as well as the glove worn by <a href="https://www.mlb.com/news/mets-memorabilia-at-hall-of-fame">center fielder Tommie Agee</a>. All the objects can be dated to the year 1969. </p>
<p>Certainly, this is slightly weaker evidence; after all, it’s possible to produce fake printed items. And even if scientists found traces of Tommie Agee’s DNA in the glove, it would prove only that he wore it at some point that year, not necessarily that the Mets had won the Series.</p>
<p>But the physical evidence for the Moon landings cannot be faked so easily. First, the Moon rocks brought back by the Apollo astronauts <a href="https://www.spaceanswers.com/q-and-a/how-different-is-moon-rock-and-earth-rock/">are unlike rocks on Earth</a>. And they are similar to lunar samples returned by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1029/2022JE007409">Soviet</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2022.06.037">Chinese</a> spacecraft. Scientists from many countries have examined these rocks and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2021.12.013">continue</a> to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/maps.13795">study</a> them <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gca.2020.11.002">today</a>.</p>
<p>Second, the Apollo 11 astronauts <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/goddard/2020/laser-beams-reflected-between-earth-and-moon-boost-science">placed mirrors on the Moon</a> that have been detected for decades by telescopes in the U.S., France, Germany, South Africa and Australia. Anyone with a few million dollars can build a telescope big enough to see them.</p>
<p>There’s even more evidence we haven’t mentioned: the <a href="https://moon.nasa.gov/exploration/moon-missions/">dozens of unmanned probes</a> sent to the Moon by both the U.S. and the USSR before Apollo 11, which built up the technology needed for the landings; the large budget devoted to the project – NASA <a href="https://www.planetary.org/space-policy/cost-of-apollo">spent about US$49 billion</a> on lunar missions between 1960 and 1973; and the universal agreement by scientific and academic institutions around the world for the past half-century that astronauts <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90375425/apollo-11-landed-moon-how-you-can-be-sure-sorry-conspiracy">really did land on the Moon</a>. </p>
<p>So why do some people continue to insist that humans never reached the Moon? Maybe they like to imagine they have “secret knowledge.” It makes them feel they’re just a bit smarter than everyone else. After all, a few <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/flat-earthers-what-they-believe-and-why/">still incorrectly claim the Earth is flat</a>.</p>
<p>Now – what do you think? Did the Baltimore Orioles actually win the World Series in 1969? Has a worldwide conspiracy prevented millions of witnesses from coming forward to expose the hoax? Have citizens of the United States suffered from an episode of mass delusion? </p>
<p>Or did the Miracle Mets actually win the World Series in 1969?</p>
<p>The evidence – and your logic and common sense – will answer the question for you.</p>
<hr>
<p><em>Hello, curious kids! Do you have a question you’d like an expert to answer? Ask an adult to send your question to <a href="mailto:curiouskidsus@theconversation.com">CuriousKidsUS@theconversation.com</a>. Please tell us your name, age and the city where you live.</em></p>
<p><em>And since curiosity has no age limit – adults, let us know what you’re wondering, too. We won’t be able to answer every question, but we will do our best.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/207300/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Richmond does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Some people incorrectly say the Moon landings didn’t happen. But the evidence – and logic – isn’t on their side.Michael Richmond, Professor of Astronomy and Physics, Rochester Institute of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1851372022-06-17T00:39:46Z2022-06-17T00:39:46ZIn the new Disney Pixar movie Lightyear, time gets bendy. Is time travel real, or just science fiction?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469163/original/file-20220616-15-l5m539.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C4089%2C2845&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Disney/Pixar</span></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>Spoiler alert: this article explains a key plot point, but we don’t give away anything you won’t see in trailers. Thanks to reader Florence, 7, for her questions.</em> </p>
<p>At the beginning of the new Disney Pixar film, Lightyear, Buzz Lightyear gets stranded on a dangerous faraway planet with his commanding officer and crew.</p>
<p>Their only hope of getting off the planet is to test a special fuel. To do that, Buzz has to fly into space and repeatedly try to jump to hyper-speed. But each attempt he makes comes with a terrible cost. </p>
<p>Every time Buzz takes off for a four-minute test flight into space, he lands back on the planet to find many years have passed. The people Buzz cares most about fall in love, have kids and even grandkids. Time becomes his biggest enemy.</p>
<p>What’s going on? Is this just science fiction, or could what happened to Buzz actually happen?</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/wHBBoUtJHhA?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">In Lightyear, time can flow at different speeds for different people. This is a real effect called ‘time dilation’.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Time is relative: Einstein’s big idea</h2>
<p>Buzz is experiencing a real phenomenon known as time dilation. Time dilation is a prediction of one of the most famous scientific theories ever developed: Albert Einstein’s theory of relativity. </p>
<p>Prior to relativity, the best theory of motion we had was Isaac Newton’s mechanics.</p>
<p>Newton’s theory was incredibly powerful, providing stunning predictions of the motion of the planets in our solar system. </p>
<p>In Newton’s theory, time is like a single giant clock that ticks away the seconds in the same way for everyone. No matter where you are in the universe, the master clock will display the same time.</p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-is-time-travel-possible-for-humans-140703">Curious Kids: is time travel possible for humans?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Einstein’s theory of relativity shattered the master clock into many clocks – one for each person and object in motion. In Einstein’s picture of the universe, everyone carries their own clock with them. </p>
<p>One consequence of this is there is no guarantee the clocks will tick at the same rate. In fact, many clocks will tick at different rates.</p>
<p>Even worse, the faster you travel relative to someone else, the slower your clock will tick compared to theirs.</p>
<p>This means if you travel very fast in a spaceship – as Buzz does – a few minutes might pass for you, but years might pass for someone on the planet you left behind.</p>
<h2>Time travelling forwards – but not backwards</h2>
<p>In a sense, time dilation can be thought of as a kind of time travel. It provides a way to jump into someone else’s future. </p>
<p>This is what Buzz does: he jumps into the future of his friends left on the planet below. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469165/original/file-20220616-9155-8pzyzi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469165/original/file-20220616-9155-8pzyzi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469165/original/file-20220616-9155-8pzyzi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469165/original/file-20220616-9155-8pzyzi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469165/original/file-20220616-9155-8pzyzi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=251&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469165/original/file-20220616-9155-8pzyzi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469165/original/file-20220616-9155-8pzyzi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469165/original/file-20220616-9155-8pzyzi.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=316&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">How time dilation works: minutes for one person can be years for another.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">Disney/Pixar</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Unfortunately, there is no way to use time dilation to travel backwards in time, into the past (as one important character talks about later in the film). </p>
<p>It’s also not possible to use time dilation to travel into your own future. </p>
<p>That means there’s no known way for you to travel into the future and meet your older self, simply by going really fast. </p>
<h2>Time travellers above Earth right now</h2>
<p>Time dilation might seem like science fiction, but in fact it is a measurable phenomenon. Indeed, scientists have conducted a number of experiments to confirm that clocks tick at different rates, depending on how they are moving.</p>
<p>For example, astronauts on the <a href="https://nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html">International Space Station</a> are travelling at <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/feature/facts-and-figures">very high speeds</a> compared with their friends and family on Earth. (You can watch the space station pass overhead if you know <a href="https://spotthestation.nasa.gov/">when to look up</a>.)</p>
<p>This means those astronauts are ageing at a <a href="https://www.wired.com/2014/11/time-dilation/">slightly slower rate</a>. Indeed, US astronaut Buzz Aldrin, from whom Buzz in Lightyear gets his name, would have experienced a tiny bit of time dilation during his trip to the Moon in the 1960s. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469168/original/file-20220616-20036-7f2yrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469168/original/file-20220616-20036-7f2yrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/469168/original/file-20220616-20036-7f2yrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469168/original/file-20220616-20036-7f2yrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469168/original/file-20220616-20036-7f2yrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469168/original/file-20220616-20036-7f2yrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469168/original/file-20220616-20036-7f2yrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/469168/original/file-20220616-20036-7f2yrx.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Real-life astronaut Buzz Aldrin would have experienced a tiny bit of time dilation on his trip to the Moon in 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">NASA</span></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Don’t worry, though, the astronauts on the International Space Station <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20041117121920/https://spaceflight.nasa.gov/station/crew/exp7/luletters/lu_letter13.html">won’t feel or notice</a> any time dilation. It’s nothing like the extreme time jumps seen in Lightyear. </p>
<p>Aldrin was able to return safely to his family, and the astronauts up in space now will too.</p>
<h2>To infinity – and beyond</h2>
<p>Clearly, time dilation could have a serious cost. But it’s not all bad news. Time dilation could one day help us travel to the stars.</p>
<p>The universe is a massive place. The nearest star is <a href="https://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/features/cosmic/nearest_star_info.html">40,208,000,000,000 km away</a>. Getting there is like travelling around the world one billion times. Travelling at an ordinary speed, no one would ever survive long enough to make the trip.</p>
<p>Time dilation, however, is also accompanied by another phenomenon: length contraction. When one travels very fast toward an object, the distance between your spaceship and that object will appear to be contracted. </p>
<hr>
<p>
<em>
<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/curious-kids-what-would-happen-if-someone-moved-at-twice-the-speed-of-light-183043">Curious Kids: what would happen if someone moved at twice the speed of light?</a>
</strong>
</em>
</p>
<hr>
<p>Very roughly, at high speeds, everything is closer together. This means that for someone travelling at a high speed, they could make it to the nearest star in a matter of days.</p>
<p>But time dilation would still be in effect. Your clock would slow relative to the clock of someone on Earth. So, you could make a round trip to the nearest star in a few days, but by the time you arrived home everyone you know would be gone.</p>
<p>That is both the promise, and the tragedy, of interstellar travel.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/185137/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Sam Baron receives funding from the Australian Research Council.</span></em></p>Time dilation might seem like science fiction, but it’s not. There are astronauts circling the Earth right now who are experiencing it – though luckily nowhere near as much as Buzz Lightyear.Sam Baron, Associate professor, Australian Catholic UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1128512019-03-26T10:38:53Z2019-03-26T10:38:53ZApollo 11 brought a message of peace to the Moon – but Neil and Buzz almost forgot to leave it behind<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265631/original/file-20190325-36252-tc9qu4.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">President Richard M. Nixon welcomes the Apollo 11 astronauts aboard the USS Hornet, the recovery ship for the mission, where they are quarantined. From left to right: Neil A. Armstrong, Michael Collins and Edwin E. Aldrin.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/topics/people/galleries/armstrong_july1969_3.html">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“<a href="https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.clsout.html">How about that package out of your sleeve? Get that?</a>” is certainly not the most famous phrase uttered by a human while on the Moon. And the items nestled in a small packet that astronaut Buzz Aldrin had stowed in the pocket just below the shoulder of his <a href="https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/EMUf2-1.gif">extravehicular mobility unit</a> were certainly not mission critical. They were sentimental objects, intended to be left on the Moon purely for symbolic and commemorative purposes.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265647/original/file-20190325-36270-1nmjd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265647/original/file-20190325-36270-1nmjd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265647/original/file-20190325-36270-1nmjd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265647/original/file-20190325-36270-1nmjd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265647/original/file-20190325-36270-1nmjd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=600&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265647/original/file-20190325-36270-1nmjd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265647/original/file-20190325-36270-1nmjd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265647/original/file-20190325-36270-1nmjd5r.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=754&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Apollo 15 astronauts David R. Scott and James B. Irwin left a commemorative plaque on the Moon in memory of 14 NASA astronauts and USSR cosmonauts. The tiny, man-like object represents the figure of a fallen astronaut/cosmonaut.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Fallen_Astronaut.jpg">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>More than one hundred sites</h2>
<p>You may be surprised to learn that a partial <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/FINAL%20Catalogue%20of%20Manmade%20Material%20on%20the%20Moon.pdf">catalog</a> of human-made objects on the Moon fills more than 20 single-spaced pages. There are more than a hundred sites on the Moon with evidence of human activity. The sites contain materials from the European Space Agency, Japan, India, Russia, China and the United States. Not only do these sites contain ongoing experiments, they hold invaluable data. For example, engineers are hoping to examine these materials to determine how they have fared after continuous exposure to the elevated radiation levels on the Moon. Along with scientific equipment, robotic landers and other objects left behind to lighten the load for the return home, there are a number of memorial and tributary items. </p>
<p>But perhaps most important, these varied objects, and their position on the lunar surface, alone can reveal the true story of humanity’s history on the Moon. A chronicle which celebrates the persistence and passion of hundreds and of thousands of scientists, engineers and aviators throughout human history who have supported the effort to “<a href="http://www.arlingtoncemetery.net/highflig.htm">slip the surly bonds of Earth</a>” and reach the stars. </p>
<p>I am not a historian. I am a space lawyer and have made it my mission to develop the laws we need to protect historic artifacts and sites in space. I co-founded <a href="https://www.forallmoonkind.org/">For All Moonkind</a>, the only organization in the world dedicated to preserving human heritage in outer space, to assure that archaeologists, historians, scientists and tourists are given the opportunity to learn the valuable lessons of our past. </p>
<h2>Messages of peace</h2>
<p>Buzz Aldrin and fellow Moonwalker Neil Armstrong chose to go to the Moon with an <a href="https://www.space.com/17338-apollo-1.html">Apollo 1</a> patch. It was selected to honor the ultimate sacrifice of astronauts <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/zorn/grissom.htm">Gus Grissom</a>, <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/zorn/white.htm">Ed White</a> and <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/Apollo204/zorn/chaffee.htm">Roger Chaffee</a>, who perished in a fire during the first test of the Apollo command and service module. The astronauts also chose to remember their fallen Soviet competitors and carried with them two Soviet medals, honoring cosmonaut <a href="https://www.spaceanswers.com/space-exploration/heroes-of-space-vladimir-komarov/">Vladimir Komarov</a>, who died in the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/topics/history/features/komarov.html">Soyuz 1</a> spacecraft in 1967 and <a href="https://www.space.com/16159-first-man-in-space.html">Yuri Gagarin</a>, the first man to orbit the Earth, who was killed in an aircraft in 1968. Aldrin and Armstrong understood that even as Americans raced the Soviets to the Moon, success would be shared by all.</p>
<p>That’s why they also carried a small gold olive branch – a global symbol of peace – and a silicon disk about the size of a United States half dollar. <a href="https://www.history.nasa.gov/ap11-35ann/goodwill/Apollo_11_material.pdf">Inscribed on this disk in microscopic text are messages</a> from the president of the United States and leaders of other 73 nations solicited by <a href="http://www.planetary.org/connect/our-experts/profiles/thomas-paine.html">Thomas Paine</a>, then head of NASA. The messages, intended to be left on the Moon for posterity, are poignant, proud and congratulatory. Some speak of their own national heritage, others salute the courage of the three humans who strapped themselves into a rocket and catapulted into the unknown. From Afghanistan to Zambia, the messages have one common theme: peace. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265630/original/file-20190325-36267-1xctvl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265630/original/file-20190325-36267-1xctvl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265630/original/file-20190325-36267-1xctvl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265630/original/file-20190325-36267-1xctvl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265630/original/file-20190325-36267-1xctvl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=565&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265630/original/file-20190325-36267-1xctvl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265630/original/file-20190325-36267-1xctvl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265630/original/file-20190325-36267-1xctvl8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=710&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Apollo 11 lunar module shows the stainless steel dedication plaque. The signatures are of the three Apollo 11 crew members and President Richard Nixon.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Apollo_11_plaque_closeup_on_Moon.jpg">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Neil Armstrong’s favorites</h2>
<p>According to his biographer, <a href="https://cla.auburn.edu/history/people/faculty/james-hansen/">James Hansen</a>, Neil Armstrong identified three favorite messages. The president of <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/ap11-35ann/goodwill/Apollo_11_material.pdf">Costa Rica</a> hoped the Moon landing would produce “new benefits for improving the well-being of the human race.” The king of the <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/ap11-35ann/goodwill/Apollo_11_material.pdf">Belgians</a> remained “deeply conscious of our responsibility with respect to the tasks which may be open to us in the universe, but also to those which remain to be fulfilled on this Earth, so to bring more justice and more happiness to mankind.” Finally, the president of the <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/ap11-35ann/goodwill/Apollo_11_material.pdf">Ivory Coast</a> asked that the first human messengers to the Moon “turn towards our planet Earth and cry out how insignificant the problems which torture men are, when viewed from up there.”</p>
<p>I personally find the message of the president of <a href="https://history.nasa.gov/ap11-35ann/goodwill/Apollo_11_material.pdf">Mexico</a> rather prescient as he noted “in 1492, the discovery of the American Continent transformed geography and the course of human events. Today, conquest of ultraterrestrial space – with its attendant unknowns – recreates our perspectives and enhances our paradigms.” He went on to remind that human migration to space carries with it “a new far reaching responsibility.” </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265377/original/file-20190322-36264-11anbou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265377/original/file-20190322-36264-11anbou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/265377/original/file-20190322-36264-11anbou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265377/original/file-20190322-36264-11anbou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265377/original/file-20190322-36264-11anbou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=212&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265377/original/file-20190322-36264-11anbou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265377/original/file-20190322-36264-11anbou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/265377/original/file-20190322-36264-11anbou.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=266&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The figure shows a gold replica of an olive branch, a traditional symbol of peace, an Apollo 1 patch and a silicon message disk.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11memorials.html">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Forgotten?</h2>
<p>Space historian <a href="http://psychiatry.wustl.edu/Faculty/FacultyDetails?ID=2898">Tahir Rahman</a>, who has published an <a href="https://www.worldcat.org/title/we-came-in-peace-for-all-mankind-the-untold-story-of-the-apollo-11-silicon-disk/oclc/177027419">award-winning book</a> that tells the full story of the Messages of Peace, recounts that Aldrin and Armstrong nearly forgot to leave the disc and other mementos on the lunar surface. Indeed, according to <a href="https://www.hq.nasa.gov/alsj/a11/a11.clsout.html">NASA records and transcripts</a>, it wasn’t until the Moonwalkers were climbing back into their spacecraft for the return journey to Earth when they realized their oversight. At the last minute, the disc was tossed from the ladder and settled in the regolith without pomp or circumstance. Once in the capsule, Armstrong verified that “the disk with messages was placed on the surface as planned.” </p>
<p>The mystery is not that these busy astronauts almost forgot to leave the disc behind. After all they were pretty occupied being the first humans to set foot on the Moon. I think it is strange that the two most popular films about Apollo 11 released in the last year, <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1213641/">“First Man”</a> and <a href="https://www.imdb.com/title/tt8760684/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1">“Apollo 11</a>,” make no mention of the disc and its moving and hope-filled messages. </p>
<p>On July 20, 1969, the world united to celebrate the most remarkable technological achievement in human experience. And in that celebration, our leaders focused on our common hope for peace. This is the lesson of humanity’s effort to reach the Moon. I believe this is the history that we must embrace. It is our responsibility to explore space in peace, together as a species. </p>
<p>Let’s not forget, or forsake, the lessons of our past. The first step is to protect the sites which chronicle our history on the Moon. And hopefully, along the way we can recapture the goodwill that Neil and Buzz left behind.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/112851/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle L.D. Hanlon is affiliated with For All Moonkind.</span></em></p>Objects left on the Moon are not just abandoned rockets and rovers. There is a lot of historic and sentimental memorabilia. Some of it hints at a mission that the first Moonwalkers almost forgot.Michelle L.D. Hanlon, Professor of Air and Space Law, University of MississippiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1110202019-02-15T11:49:01Z2019-02-15T11:49:01ZProtecting human heritage on the moon: Don’t let ‘one small step’ become one giant mistake<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258341/original/file-20190211-174861-16rl0pu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Neil Armstrong took this photograph of Buzz Aldrin during the Apollo 11 extravehicular activity on the moon.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/multimedia/imagegallery/image_feature_616.html">NASA</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Why did the hominin cross the plain? We may never know. But anthropologists are pretty sure that a smattering of bare footprints preserved <a href="http://humanorigins.si.edu/evidence/behavior/footprints/laetoli-footprint-trails">in volcanic ash in Laetoli, Tanzania</a> bear witness to an evolutionary milestone. These small steps, taken roughly 3.5 million years ago, mark an early successful attempt by our common human ancestor to stand upright and stride on two feet, instead of four. </p>
<p>Fifty years ago, <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/glenn/about/bios/neilabio.html">Neil Armstrong</a> also took a few small steps. On the moon. His bootprints, along with those of fellow astronaut Buzz Aldrin, are preserved in the lunar soil, called regolith, on what Aldrin described as the “<a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2014/07/buzz-aldrin-on-the-moon-more-desolate-than-any-place-on-earth/374123/">magnificent desolation</a>” of the moon’s surface. These prints, too, bear witness to an evolutionary milestone, as well as humankind’s greatest technological achievement. What’s more, they memorialize the work of the many individuals who worked to unlock the secrets of space and send humans there. And those small steps pay homage to the daring men and women who have dedicated – and those who lost – their lives to space exploration. </p>
<p>The evidence left by our bipedal ancestors are <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/decisions/4444/">recognized by the international community and protected as human heritage</a>. But the evidence of humanity’s first off-world exploits on the moon are not. These events, separated by 3.5 million years, demonstrate the same uniquely human desire to achieve, explore and triumph. They are a manifestation of our common human history. And they should be treated with equal respect and deference.</p>
<p>I’m a <a href="https://law.olemiss.edu/faculty-directory/michelle-hanlon/">professor of aviation and space law</a> and an associate director of the Air and Space Law Program at the University of Mississippi School of Law. My work focuses on the development of laws and guidelines that will assist and promote the successful and sustainable use of space and our transition into a multi-planet species. During the course of my research, I was shocked to discover that the bootprints left on the moon, and all they memorialize and represent, are not recognized as human heritage and may be accidentally or intentionally damaged or defaced without penalty. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258346/original/file-20190211-174851-bcsp95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258346/original/file-20190211-174851-bcsp95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258346/original/file-20190211-174851-bcsp95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258346/original/file-20190211-174851-bcsp95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258346/original/file-20190211-174851-bcsp95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=482&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258346/original/file-20190211-174851-bcsp95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258346/original/file-20190211-174851-bcsp95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258346/original/file-20190211-174851-bcsp95.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=606&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">One of Buzz Aldrin’s first bootprints from his Apollo 11 moonwalk on July 20, 1969.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.nasa.gov/centers/marshall/history/apollo11_140718.html">NASA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Heritage gets no respect</h2>
<p>On Earth, we see evidence of this type of insensitivity all the time. <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/isis-cultural-heritage-sites-destroyed-950060">The Islamic State has destroyed countless cultural artifacts</a>, but it’s not just terrorists. <a href="https://egyptianstreets.com/2016/02/06/three-arrested-for-selling-pieces-of-the-giza-pyramids-for-32/">People steal pieces of the Pyramids</a> in Gaza and sell them to willing tourists. Tourists themselves see no harm in <a href="https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/italy/9352373/Tourists-stealing-cobblestones-and-mosaic-from-ancient-Rome.html">grabbing cobblestones</a> that mark roads built by ancient Romans or snapping the thumbs off <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2018/02/19/us/terracotta-warrior-thumb/index.html">terra cotta warriors</a> crafted centuries ago to honor a Chinese emperor. </p>
<p>And, just last year, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2017/07/21/us/moon-bag-auction-sothebys.html">Sotheby’s auctioned off a bag</a> – the first bag that Neil Armstrong used to collect the first moon rocks and dust ever returned to Earth. The sale was entirely legal. This “first bag” ended up in the hands of a private individual after the U.S. government erroneously allowed it to be included in a public auction. Rather than return the bag to NASA, its new owner sold it to the highest bidder for US$1.8 million. That’s a hefty price tag and a terrible message. Imagine how much a private collector would pay for remnants of the first flag planted on the moon? Or even just some dust from <a href="https://www.lpi.usra.edu/lunar/missions/apollo/apollo_11/">Mare Tranquilitatis</a>?</p>
<p>The fact is if people don’t think sites are important, there is no way to guarantee their safety – or the security of the artifacts they host. Had the first bag been recognized as an artifact, its trade would have been illegal. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258348/original/file-20190211-174861-1owc8p5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258348/original/file-20190211-174861-1owc8p5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/258348/original/file-20190211-174861-1owc8p5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258348/original/file-20190211-174861-1owc8p5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258348/original/file-20190211-174861-1owc8p5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=495&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258348/original/file-20190211-174861-1owc8p5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258348/original/file-20190211-174861-1owc8p5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/258348/original/file-20190211-174861-1owc8p5.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=622&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The taller Buddha of Bamiyan before (left) and after (right) destruction.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/51/Taller_Buddha_of_Bamiyan_before_and_after_destruction.jpg">UNESCO/A Lezine</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Introducing ‘For All Moonkind’</h2>
<p>That’s why I co-founded the nonprofit <a href="https://www.forallmoonkind.org/">For All Moonkind</a>, the only organization in the world committed to making sure these sites are protected. Our mission is to ensure the Apollo 11 landing and similar sites in outer space are recognized for their outstanding value to humanity and protected, like those small steps in Laetoli, for posterity by the international community as part of our common human heritage. </p>
<p>Our group of nearly 100 volunteers – space lawyers, archaeologists, scientists, engineers, educators and communicators from five continents – is working together to build the framework that will assure a sustainable balance between protection and development in space. </p>
<p>Here on Earth, the international community identifies important sites by placing them on the <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/list">World Heritage List</a>, created by a <a href="https://whc.unesco.org/en/convention/">convention</a> signed by 193 nations. In this way, the international community has agreed to protect things like the cave paintings in <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/108440">Lascaux, France</a> and <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/documents/136719">Stonehenge</a>, a ring of standing stones in Wiltshire, England. </p>
<p>There are no equivalent laws or internationally recognized regulations or even principles that protect the Apollo 11 landing site, known as Tranquility Base, or any other sites on the moon or in space. There is no law against running over the first bootprints imprinted on the moon. Or erasing them. Or carving them out of the moon’s regolith and selling them to the highest bidder. </p>
<p>Between 1957 and 1975, the international community did dedicate a tremendous amount of time and effort to negotiating a set of treaties and conventions that would, it was hoped, prevent the militarization of space and ensure freedom of access and exploration for all nations. At the time, cultural heritage in outer space did not exist and was not a concern. As such, it is not surprising that the <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/oosa/en/ourwork/spacelaw/treaties/introouterspacetreaty.html">Outer Space Treaty</a>, which entered into force in 1967, doesn’t address the protection of human heritage. Today, this omission is perilous. </p>
<p>Because, sadly, humans are capable of reprehensible acts. </p>
<h2>Back to the moon</h2>
<p>Currently there are a comparative trickle of companies and nations with their sights on returning to the moon. <a href="https://theconversation.com/will-chinas-moon-landing-launch-a-new-space-race-109359">China landed a rover on the far side in January</a>. An <a href="https://theconversation.com/first-private-spacecraft-shoots-for-the-moon-109994">Israeli company</a> hopes to reach the moon in March. At least <a href="https://spacenews.com/former-google-lunar-x-prize-teams-focused-on-new-commercial-and-government-opportunities/">three more private companies</a> have plans to send rovers in 2020. The <a href="https://www.ibtimes.co.in/space-race-continues-nasas-upcoming-lunar-mission-aims-make-astronauts-stay-moon-791635">U.S.</a>, <a href="https://sputniknews.com/science/201902091072267900-russia-first-manned-lunar-mission-moon/">Russia</a> and <a href="https://www.space.com/42914-china-far-side-moon-landing-crewed-lunar-plans.html">China</a> are all planning human missions to the moon. The European Space Agency has its sights on an entire <a href="https://spacenews.com/urban-planning-for-the-moon-village/">Moon Village</a>. </p>
<p>But as history shows, this trickle of explorers could soon become a rush. As we straddle the threshold of true space-faring capability, we have an extraordinary opportunity. We have time to protect our common heritage, humanity’s first steps, on the moon before it is vandalized or destroyed.</p>
<p>If our hominin ancestor had a name, it is lost to history. Conversely, English novelist J.G. Ballard suggested that Neil Armstrong may well be the <a href="http://www.ballardian.com/dead-astronaut-rip-neil-armstrong-1930-2012">only human being of our time remembered 50,000 years from now</a>. </p>
<p>If we do this right, 3.5 million years from now, not only will his name be remembered, his bootprint will remain preserved and the story of how Tranquility Base became the cradle of our space-faring future will be remembered forever, along with the lessons of tumultuous history that got us to the moon. These lessons will help us come together as a human community and ultimately advance forward as a species.</p>
<p>To allow anything else to happen would be a giant mistake.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111020/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michelle Hanlon is a co-founder of For All Moonkind.</span></em></p>Throughout the world, unique sites of natural and cultural heritage are protected for future generations. But what about sites on the moon that represent the beginning of the human space age?Michelle L.D. Hanlon, Professor of Air and Space Law, University of MississippiLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1113302019-02-08T11:33:37Z2019-02-08T11:33:37ZUS astronauts will soon fly again in American spacecraft - but not NASA’s<p>“This year, American astronauts will go back to space in American rockets.” </p>
<p>This one sentence from the 2019 <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/02/05/us/politics/trump-state-of-union-speech-transcript.html">State of the Union address</a> may have escaped your notice. It ended a paragraph in which the president paid tribute to astronaut <a href="https://www.jsc.nasa.gov/Bios/htmlbios/aldrin-b.html">Buzz Aldrin</a> of the Apollo 11 mission to mark the the 50th anniversary of the first moon landing. From that point, the speech transitioned to increasing the standard of living for Americans in the 21st century. A small sentence, perhaps. Maybe perceived by some as a throwaway line. But behind these 12 words lies a revolution in how Americans will get to space in the future.</p>
<p>Americans have not flown to orbit aboard an American rocket or from an American launch pad since July 8, 2011. This gap of nearly eight years and counting is the longest in our history, eclipsing the six-year gap between Apollo-Soyuz in 1975 and the Space Shuttle program in 1981. Since the retirement of the Space Shuttle in 2011, the United States has paid Russia approximately US$75 million per seat to launch U.S. astronauts to the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/station/main/index.html">International Space Station</a> aboard Soyuz spacecraft from a launch site in Kazakhstan.</p>
<p>However, as noted in the State of the Union, things will change in 2019. American astronauts are scheduled to fly to space from U.S. soil this summer, aboard three separate launch systems, developed not by the U.S. government and its contractor workforce, but instead by commercial spaceflight companies. It is a change that heralds a new era in human space travel.</p>
<h2>A new era of American spaceflight</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.spacex.com">SpaceX</a>, <a href="http://www.boeing.com/space/">Boeing</a> and <a href="https://www.virgingalactic.com">Virgin Galactic</a> are all planning to send American astronauts into space in 2019. For SpaceX and Boeing – if the schedule holds and near-term test flights go well – their voyages will be orbital flights to the ISS launched from the <a href="https://www.kennedyspacecenter.com">Kennedy Space Center</a> in Florida. SpaceX will fly two NASA astronauts in their <a href="https://www.spacex.com/dragon">Dragon Capsule</a> on a <a href="https://www.spacex.com/falcon9">Falcon 9 rocket</a>, and Boeing will fly a crew of three in its <a href="http://www.boeing.com/space/starliner/">CST-100 Starliner</a> aboard an <a href="https://www.ulalaunch.com/rockets/atlas-v">Atlas-V booster</a>. </p>
<p>Virgin Galactic has already put Americans into space with their most recent flight in December 2018. Although this rocket did not orbit the Earth, and did just a quick “up and down” trajectory, it demonstrates amazing progress.</p>
<p>Most revolutions do not happen overnight, and our revolution in commercial human spaceflight is no exception. All of this activity can be traced back to the <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/missions/solarsystem/bush_vision.html">George W. Bush 43 administration</a>, when <a href="https://www.nasa.gov/about/highlights/griffin_bio.html">NASA Administrator Dr. Michael D. Griffin</a> put $500 million of NASA money on the table to help spur industry to develop commercial systems from which NASA could purchase delivery services, for crew and cargo, just as one buys airline tickets. </p>
<p>If I wish to fly from New York to Los Angeles, for example, I can go to a website, make a reservation, and enter my credit card number. I don’t have to build the airplane, construct the airport, own and operate the air-traffic control system, refine the fuel from crude oil, train the pilot, and so forth. I buy it as a simple commercial transaction. This mode is what NASA was after when the first commercial launch programs were established in 2006. </p>
<h2>Launches return to American soil</h2>
<p>Development has occurred on a schedule much longer than anticipated, creating the record gap in American launches. However, it has led directly to the establishment of multiple independent systems of cargo supply to space, aboard the SpaceX Falcon-9 and Orbital Science’s Antares launch vehicle. All told, this arrangement has worked extremely well, safely and in a cost-effective manner. </p>
<p>In 2019, human launch capability will be added to the ongoing portfolio of cargo flights, returning American astronauts to American launch vehicles, and eliminating the requirement to launch to the ISS on a Russian system. After almost two decades at NASA, I can say that this is, indeed, a big deal.</p>
<p>This revolution is just getting started. In the not-too-distant future, you can also expect to see <a href="https://www.blueorigin.com">Blue Origin</a>, the space company founded by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and <a href="https://www.sncorp.com/space-systems/">Sierra Nevada Corporation</a> begin similar flights to orbit. Bezos’ team is already flying suborbital cargo and science experiment flights to space on a reusable vehicle named <a href="https://www.blueorigin.com/new-shepard/">New Shepard</a> from their launch facility in Texas. Sierra Nevada will be flying their <a href="https://www.sncorp.com/what-we-do/dream-chaser-space-vehicle/">Dream Chaser</a> vehicle, which looks much like a mini-space shuttle and lands on a runway, for cargo to ISS (first) and then people (later).</p>
<p>Revolutions – even those cloaked in a simple sentence – do not happen in an instant. It has been 13 years since NASA first worked to spur commercial development of launch capabilities. Eight years have elapsed since the retirement of the Space Shuttle. A revolution is in the making, totally transforming how we send American astronauts into space. Perhaps not overnight, but it is coming soon to a launch pad near you … and, yes, this revolution will be televised.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/111330/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>John M. Horack does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>A brief line in the State of the Union address hints at an exciting year for commercial spaceflight companies in the US. After an eight year lull, US rockets will again carry astronauts into space.John M. Horack, Neil Armstrong Chair and Professor of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/999742018-07-20T10:45:55Z2018-07-20T10:45:55ZWho owns the moon? A space lawyer answers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/227918/original/file-20180717-44079-dricjg.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C291%2C2973%2C2011&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Edwin E. 'Buzz' Aldrin Jr. poses for a photograph beside the U.S. flag deployed on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission on July 20, 1969. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-Domestic-News-In-Space-APOLLO-/c636ab3889e6da11af9f0014c2589dfb/2/1">Neil A. Armstrong/NASA/AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Most likely, this is the best-known picture of a flag ever taken: Buzz Aldrin standing next to the first U.S. flag planted on the Moon. For those who knew their world history, it also rang some alarm bells. Only less than a century ago, back on Earth, planting a national flag in another part of the world still amounted to claiming that territory for the fatherland. Did the Stars and Stripes on the moon signify the establishment of an American colony? </p>
<p>When people hear for the first time that I am a lawyer practicing and teaching something called “space law,” the question they ask most frequently, often with a big smile or a twinkle in the eye, is: “So tell me, who owns the moon?”</p>
<p>Of course, claiming new national territories had been very much a European habit, applied to non-European parts of the world. In particular the Portuguese, the Spanish, the Dutch, the French and the English created huge colonial empires. But while their attitude was very Europe-centric, the legal notion that planting a flag was an act of establishing sovereignty quickly stuck and became accepted worldwide as part and parcel of the law of nations.</p>
<p>Obviously, the astronauts had more important things on their mind than contemplating the legal meaning and consequences of that planted flag, but luckily the issue had been taken care of prior to the mission. Since the beginning of the space race the United States knew that for many people around the world the sight of a U.S. flag on the Moon would raise major political issues. Any suggestion that the moon might become, legally speaking, part of U.S. backwaters might fuel such concerns, and possibly give rise to international disputes harmful to both the U.S. space program and U.S. interests as a whole. </p>
<p>By 1969, decolonization may have destroyed any notion that non-European parts of the world, though populated, were not civilized and thus justifiably made subject to European sovereignty – however, there was not a single person living on the moon; even life itself was absent. </p>
<p>Still, the simple answer to the question of whether Armstrong and Aldrin by way of their small ceremony did transform the moon, or at least a major part thereof, into U.S. territory turns out to be “no.” They, nor NASA, nor the U.S. government intended the U.S. flag to have that effect. </p>
<h2>The first outer space treaty</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228298/original/file-20180718-142417-1v54x1g.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">NASA Lunar Sample Return Container with moon soil on display in a vault at NASA’s Johnson Space Center.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Lunar_Sample_Return_Container.jpg">OptoMechEngineer</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/">CC BY-SA</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Most importantly, that answer was enshrined in the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, to which both the United States and the Soviet Union as well as all other space-faring nations, had become a party. Both superpowers agreed that “colonization” on Earth had been responsible for tremendous human suffering and many armed conflicts that had raged over the last centuries. They were determined not to repeat that mistake of the old European colonial powers when it came to decide on the legal status of the moon; at least the possibility of a “land grab” in outer space giving rise to another world war was to be avoided. By that token, the moon became something of a “global commons” legally accessible to all countries – two years prior to the first actual manned moon landing.</p>
<figure class="align-left zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228453/original/file-20180719-142405-1unz7bh.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Businessman Rajzeev V. Baagree, who purchased five acres of land on the moon for 1,400 rupees (equivalent to US$31 in 2005) per acre, poses next to documents of proof, at his home in Hyderabad, India. It turned out he got scammed.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Associated-Press-International-News-India-INDIA-/039e7568d9e4da11af9f0014c2589dfb/3/0">Mustafa Quraishi/ AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>So, the U.S. flag was not a manifestation of claiming sovereignty, but of honoring the U.S. taxpayers and engineers who made Armstrong, Aldrin, and third astronaut Michael Collins’ mission possible. The two men carried a plaque that they “came in peace for all mankind,” and of course Neil’s famous words echoed the same sentiment: his “<a href="https://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/apollo11.html">small step for man</a>” was not a “giant leap” for the United States, but “for mankind.” Furthermore, the United States and NASA lived up to their commitment by sharing the moon rocks and other samples of soil from the lunar surface with the rest of the world, whether by giving them away to foreign governments or by allowing scientists from all over the globe to access them for scientific analysis and discussion. In the midst of the Cold War, this even included scientists from the Soviet Union.</p>
<p>Case closed, no need for space lawyers anymore then? No need for me to prepare University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s space law students for further discussions and disputes on the lunar law, right? </p>
<h2>No space lawyers needed?</h2>
<p>Not so fast. While the legal status of the Moon as a “global commons” accessible to all countries on peaceful missions did not meet any substantial resistance or challenge, the <a href="http://www.unoosa.org/res/oosadoc/data/documents/2017/stspace/stspace61rev_2_0_html/V1605998-ENGLISH.pdf">Outer Space Treaty</a> left further details unsettled. Contrary to the very optimistic assumptions made at the time, so far humankind has not returned to the moon since 1972, making lunar land rights largely theoretical. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=494&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228290/original/file-20180718-142408-capxn8.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=620&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">This 1964 file photo from the World’s Fair in the borough of Queens in New York shows a views of a moon colony in the Futurama 2 ride put together by General Motors.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/World-Fair-Technology/ea31097cc74e4f1a9bbef3dd84242e3e/1/0">AP Photo</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>That is, until a few years ago when several new plans were hatched to go back to the moon. In addition at least two U.S. companies, <a href="https://www.planetaryresources.com/#home-intro">Planetary Resources</a> and <a href="https://deepspaceindustries.com">Deep Space Industries</a>, which have serious financial backing, have started targeting asteroids for the purpose of mining their mineral resources. Geek note: Under the aforementioned Outer Space Treaty, the moon and other celestial bodies such as asteroids, legally speaking, belong in the same basket. None of them can become the “territory” of one sovereign state or another.</p>
<p>The very fundamental prohibition under the Outer Space Treaty to acquire new state territory, by planting a flag or by any other means, failed to address the commercial exploitation of natural resources on the moon and other celestial bodies. This is a <a href="http://doi.org/10.1093/ulr/uny022">major debate</a> currently raging in the international community, with no unequivocally accepted solution in sight yet. Roughly, there are two general interpretations possible.</p>
<h2>So you want to mine an asteroid?</h2>
<p><a href="https://digitalcommons.law.msu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1233&context=ilr">Countries such as the United States and Luxembourg (as the gateway to the European Union) agree that the moon and asteroids are “global commons,”</a> which means that each country allows its private entrepreneurs, as long as duly licensed and in compliance with other relevant rules of space law, to go out there and extract what they can, to try and make money with it. It’s a bit like the law of the high seas, which are not under the control of an individual country, but completely open to duly licensed law-abiding fishing operations from any country’s citizens and companies. Then, once the fish is in their nets, it is legally theirs to sell.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=376&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/228286/original/file-20180718-142411-8unakp.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=472&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">OSIRIS-REx will travel to a near-Earth asteroid called Bennu and bring a small sample back to Earth for study. The mission launched Sept. 8, 2016, from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station. As planned, the spacecraft will reach Bennu in 2018 and return a sample to Earth in 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="http://www.apimages.com/metadata/Index/Space-Asteroid-Chase/20c047ec48f74f6995ffad6b0f54422c/7/0">NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center/ASSOCIATED PRESS</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>On the other hand, <a href="https://digitalcommons.law.msu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1233&context=ilr">countries such as Russia and somewhat less explicitly Brazil and Belgium</a> hold that the moon and asteroids belong to humanity as a whole. And therefore the potential benefits from commercial exploitation should somehow accrue for humanity as a whole – or at least should be subjected to a presumably rigorous international regime to guarantee humanity-wide benefits. It’s a bit like the regime originally established for harvesting mineral resources from the deep seabed. Here, an international licensing regime was created as well as an international enterprise, which was to mine those resources and generally share the benefits among all countries.</p>
<p>While in my view the former position certainly would make more sense, both legally and practically, the legal battle by no means is over. Meanwhile, the interest in the moon has been renewed as well – at least China, India and Japan have serious plans to go back there, raising the stakes even higher. Therefore, at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln we will need to teach our students about these issues for many years to come. While ultimately it is up to the community of states to determine whether common agreement can be reached on either of the two positions or maybe somewhere in between, it is of crucial importance that agreement can be reached one way or another. Such activities developing without any law that is generally applicable and accepted would be a worst-case scenario. While not a matter of colonization anymore, it may have all the same harmful results.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/99974/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Frans von der Dunk has a consultancy addressing issues of space law and policy.</span></em></p>Fifty years ago, on July 20, 1969, American astronauts planted a US flag on the moon. A space lawyer explains the implications, who owns the moon, and what it means for lunar mining.Frans von der Dunk, Professor of Space Law, University of Nebraska-LincolnLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.