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The Moon that Owns Itself: Exploring New Legal Avenues to Protect Cultural and Natural Heritage in Space

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Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites on the Moon

Part of the book series: Studies in Space Policy ((STUDSPACE,volume 24))

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Abstract

This chapter puts forth new ideas in relation to the debate surrounding the protection of culturally and historically valuable objects and sites on the Moon, chief among them the Apollo landing sites. This is done in the context of mounting calls for declaring these locations World Heritage sites, particularly given the context of heightened interest on the part of countries around the world in undertaking new Moon missions, and accordingly an analysis and classification is presented regarding human activities on the surface on the Moon. Debates in the literature are highlighted, key legal principles contained in the body of international space law are discussed, and the concepts and definitions of heritage as per the World Heritage Convention are explored. Arguments are then made in favour of considering all potential heritage sites on the Moon as constituting mixed heritage (both cultural and natural), as well as granting the Moon its own legal status and personhood, as has happened recently on Earth in relation to rivers, forests, and mountains in New Zealand and India. This could potentially avoid legal pitfalls related to appropriation, while protecting the Moon and the sites from harm.

Our remote descendants, safely arrayed on many worlds throughout the Solar System and beyond, will be unified by their common heritage, by their regard for their home planet, and by the knowledge that, whatever other life may be, the only humans in all the Universe come from Earth. They will gaze up and strain to find the blue dot in their skies. They will love it no less for its obscurity and fragility. They will marvel at how vulnerable the repository of all our potential once was, how perilous our infancy, how humble our beginnings, how many rivers we had to cross before we found our way.

Carl Sagan, Pale Blue Dot: A Vision of the Human Future in Space (Ballantine Books 1994) 334

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Examples of these will be explored in the Literature Review.

  2. 2.

    See https://www.forallmoonkind.org/moonkind-mission/human-heritage-in-outer-space/.

  3. 3.

    The Times Editorial Board, ‘Editorial: A World Heritage site on the moon? That’s not as spacey as it sounds’ (Los Angeles Times, 22 February 2019) https://www.latimes.com/opinion/editorials/la-ed-moon-nasa-russia-united-nations-world-heritage-20190222-story.html, accessed 21 September 2019.

  4. 4.

    ‘Human Heritage in Outer Space’ (For All Moonkind, 2019), https://www.forallmoonkind.org/moonkind-mission/human-heritage-in-outer-space/, accessed 20 September 2019.

  5. 5.

    ibid.

  6. 6.

    ‘Missions to the Moon’ (The Planetary Society, 2019), https://www.planetary.org/explore/space-topics/space-missions/missions-to-the-moon.html, accessed 18 September 2019.

  7. 7.

    ibid.

  8. 8.

    The mass calculation is provided by Wikipedia with the usual caveats regarding accuracy and reliability. Nevertheless, it is a useful illustration of the amount of mass humans have transported to the Moon thus far. ‘List of artificial objects on the Moon’ (Wikipedia, 2019). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_artificial_objects_on_the_Moon, accessed 29 September 2019.

  9. 9.

    ‘How We Could Build a Moon Base TODAY – Space Colonization 1’ (Kurzgesagt, 16 September 2018) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NtQkz0aRDe8, accessed 21 September 2019.

  10. 10.

    Mike Wall, ‘NASA Plans to Build a Moon-Orbiting Space Station: Here’s What You Should Know’ (Space.com, 10 September 2018) https://www.space.com/41763-nasa-lunar-orbiting-platform-gateway-basics.html, accessed 19 September 2019.

  11. 11.

    Cheyenne Macdonald, ‘Get ready for the conspiracy theories: European Space Agency reveals plan to build an artificial moonbase with lunar soil in a German hanger’ (Daily Mail, 25 October 2018) https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-6318097/ESA-reveals-plan-build-moon-base-Earth-using-simulated-lunar-soil-facility-Germany.html, accessed 19 September 2019.

  12. 12.

    Mark Wade, ‘LESA Lunar Base’ (Astronautix, 2019) http://www.astronautix.com/l/lesalunarbase.html, accessed 19 September 2019.

  13. 13.

    TF Rogers, ‘Safeguarding Tranquility Base: Why the Earth’s Moon base should become a World Heritage Site’ (2004) 20(1) Space Policy 5.

  14. 14.

    Ibid., 6.

  15. 15.

    ibid.

  16. 16.

    Dirk HR Spennemann, ‘The ethics of treading on Neil Armstrong’s footprints’ (2004) 20 Space Policy 279.

  17. 17.

    Ibid., 280.

  18. 18.

    ibid., 287.

  19. 19.

    ibid., 286.

  20. 20.

    ibid., 287.

  21. 21.

    Ibid., 288.

  22. 22.

    Dirk HR Spennemann, ‘Out of this World: Issues of Managing Tourism and Humanity’s Heritage on the Moon’ (2006) 12(4) International Journal of Heritage Studies 357.

  23. 23.

    Ibid., 360.

  24. 24.

    Ibid., 362.

  25. 25.

    Ibid., 363.

  26. 26.

    Ibid., 364.

  27. 27.

    Ibid., 366.

  28. 28.

    ‘NASA’s Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts’ (National Aeronautics and Space Administration, 20 July 2011) https://www.nasa.gov/pdf/617743main_NASA-USG_LUNAR_HISTORIC_SITES_RevA-508.pdf, accessed 23 September 2019.

  29. 29.

    Ibid., 5.

  30. 30.

    ibid.

  31. 31.

    Ibid., 7.

  32. 32.

    Ibid., 17.

  33. 33.

    Justin St. P Walsh, ‘Protection of humanity’s cultural and historic heritage in space’ (2012) 28 Space Policy 235.

  34. 34.

    ibid.

  35. 35.

    ibid.

  36. 36.

    ibid.

  37. 37.

    Ibid., 237.

  38. 38.

    Ibid., 240.

  39. 39.

    Ibid., 240–41.

  40. 40.

    ‘Crewed Landing Sites’ (For All Moonkind, 2019) https://www.forallmoonkind.org/moonkind-mission/apollo-landing-sites/, accessed 15 September 2019.

  41. 41.

    Michelle LD Hanlon, ‘Preserving Human History in Space—a Path to Sustainable Development and Peace’ (For All Moonkind, 7 November 2017) http://www.unoosa.org/documents/pdf/hlf/HLF2017/presentations/Day2/Session_7b/Presentation2.pdf, accessed 20 September 2019.

  42. 42.

    ibid.

  43. 43.

    Currie Engel, ‘‘We Need That Boot Print.’ Inside the Fight to Save the Moon’s Historic Sites Before It’s Too Late’ (Time, 18 July 2019) https://time.com/5627640/moon-historic-sites/, accessed 20 September 2019; One Small Step to Protect Human Heritage in Space Act of 2019, 116th Cong. (2019) https://www.forallmoonkind.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/05/One-Small-Step-Act-bill-text.pdf, accessed 21 September 2019.

  44. 44.

    Currie Engel, ‘‘We Need That Boot Print.’ Inside the Fight to Save the Moon’s Historic Sites Before It’s Too Late’ (Time, 18 July 2019) https://time.com/5627640/moon-historic-sites/, accessed 20 September 2019.

  45. 45.

    United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, International Space Law: United Nations Instruments (United Nations 2017) 4. Emphasis added.

  46. 46.

    Ibid., 5–6. Emphasis added.

  47. 47.

    Ibid., 7–8. Emphasis added.

  48. 48.

    Ibid., 35. Emphasis added.

  49. 49.

    Ibid., 32. Emphasis added.

  50. 50.

    Ibid., 33. Emphasis added.

  51. 51.

    Ibid., 34. Emphasis added.

  52. 52.

    Ibid., 30. Emphasis added.

  53. 53.

    Justin St P Walsh, ‘Protection of humanity’s cultural and historic heritage in space’ (2012) 28 Space Policy 236.

  54. 54.

    United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation, Basic Texts of the 1972 World Heritage Convention (UNESCO 2005) 46.

  55. 55.

    ibid.

  56. 56.

    Naturally, if any lifeforms, however primitive, are discovered on the Moon (the same applies to Mars), the importance of protecting it will increase dramatically.

  57. 57.

    Dirk HR Spennemann, ‘Out of this World: Issues of Managing Tourism and Humanity’s Heritage on the Moon’ (2006) 12(4) International Journal of Heritage Studies 362.

  58. 58.

    ‘US and Israel formally quit UNESCO’ (Al Jazeera, 1 January 2019) https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019/01/israel-formally-quit-unesco-190101094104787.html, accessed 13 September 2019.

  59. 59.

    Dirk HR Spennemann, ‘The ethics of treading on Neil Armstrong’s footprints’ (2004) 20 Space Policy 284.

  60. 60.

    ibid.

  61. 61.

    Everett C Dolman, Astropolitik: Classical Geopolitics in the Space Age (Frank Cass 2002) 176.

  62. 62.

    ibid 177.

  63. 63.

    ‘The Tree That Owns Itself—Can a Tree Have Rights?’ (The Treeographer, 22 March 2018) https://thetreeographer.com/2018/03/22/the-tree-that-owns-itself/, accessed 21 September 2019.

  64. 64.

    ibid.

  65. 65.

    ibid.

  66. 66.

    ibid.

  67. 67.

    Donna R Causey, ‘An oak tree in Eufaula, Alabama officially owns itself – here is why’ (Alabama Pioneers) https://www.alabamapioneers.com/tree-owned-eufaula-alabama/, accessed 21 September 2019.

  68. 68.

    ibid.

  69. 69.

    ibid.

  70. 70.

    Eleanor Ainge Roy, ‘New Zealand river granted same legal rights as human being’ (The Guardian, 16 March 2017) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/16/new-zealand-river-granted-same-legal-rights-as-human-being, accessed 21 September 2019.

  71. 71.

    Kennedy Warne, ‘A Voice for Nature’ (National Geographic, April 2019) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/04/maori-river-in-new-zealand-is-a-legal-person/, accessed 21 September 2019.

  72. 72.

    Ibid.; ‘New Zealand’s Mount Taranaki granted “living person” status’ (Lonely Planet, 14 June 2018) https://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/mount-taranaki-maori, accessed 21 September 2019.

  73. 73.

    Michael Safi, ‘Ganges and Yamuna rivers granted same legal rights as human beings’ (The Guardian, 21 March 2017) https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/21/ganges-and-yamuna-rivers-granted-same-legal-rights-as-human-beings, accessed 21 September 2019.

  74. 74.

    ibid.

  75. 75.

    Kennedy Warne, ‘A Voice for Nature’ (National Geographic, April 2019) https://www.nationalgeographic.com/culture/2019/04/maori-river-in-new-zealand-is-a-legal-person/, accessed 21 September 2019.

  76. 76.

    Christopher D Stone, ‘Should trees have standing? Toward legal rights for Natural objects’ (1972) 45 South Calif Law Rev.

  77. 77.

    Adam Taylor, ‘There are now 3 rivers that legally have the same rights as humans’ (The Washington Post, 21 March 2017) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/worldviews/wp/2017/03/21/there-are-now-3-rivers-that-legally-have-the-same-rights-as-humans/, accessed 21 September 2019.

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  1. Department of Political Studies, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa

    André Siebrits

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Correspondence to André Siebrits .

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  1. European Space Policy Institute, Vienna, Austria

    Annette Froehlich

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Siebrits, A. (2020). The Moon that Owns Itself: Exploring New Legal Avenues to Protect Cultural and Natural Heritage in Space. In: Froehlich, A. (eds) Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites on the Moon. Studies in Space Policy, vol 24. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-38403-6_10

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