In January of 2024, the company Astrobiotic was set to make history with the first privately-developed lander, named Peregrine, to reach the Lunar surface, sent aboard a United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket. The lander carried the usual sorts of scientific instruments, many of them developed by NASA and its research partners. But tucked away among all those instruments was a small payload, with spots in that cargo sold by the companies Celestis and Elysium Space.
That payload: some cremated human remains and bits of DNA.
Shortly before launch, the Navajo Nation lodged a formal complaint with NASA and the US Department of Transportation, saying that sending human remains to the lunar surface violated its sanctity. The letter said, in part, "It is crucial to emphasize that the moon holds a sacred position in many Indigenous cultures, including ours. The act of depositing human remains and other materials, which could be perceived as discards in any other location, on the moon is tantamount to desecration of this sacred space."
The letter urged NASA to delay the launch to reconsider the implications of its cargo.
For its part, NASA sidestepped the issue, saying with absolutely no hint of condescension whatsoever that "We don't have the framework for telling them [referring to all the private companies involved] what they can and can't fly…it’s up to them to sell what they sell” – in other words, arguing that it’s not their business. That’s kind of true – NASA doesn’t control all the payload of a private contractor. But the Peregrine wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services program in the first place, so I find it a bit disingenuous to say that they have no responsibility.
However, another NASA spokesperson did acknowledge that missions like these could indeed generate controversy (like ones involving advertising in space), but that basically they’re going to do it anyway and just figure it out later…which has always worked out great, right?
As for Celestis, they simply refused to acknowledge the problem, saying "No one, and no religion, owns the moon, and, were the beliefs of the world's multitude of religions considered, it’s quite likely that no missions would ever be approved. Simply, we do not and never have let religious beliefs dictate humanity’s space efforts — there is not and should not be a religious test."
Okay, okay, hold up. I mean, the Celestis response is technically correct (which is the best kind of correct), but that doesn’t make them right. I can’t help but imagine putting these words in the mouth of some mustache-twirling cartoon villain finding some legal loophole to justify their evil plan.
It’s true, nobody owns the Moon. But that doesn’t mean that anybody can do whatever the heck they want. Taking that argument to the extreme, do we really want some giant corporate logo burned into the regolith for the world to see, so that every time you gaze up into the night sky you’re reminded of the existence of some silicon valley startup – because of course it would be some silicon valley startup to pull a stunt like that.
In an ironic twist to this whole saga, shortly after launch the Peregrine lander suffered a propellent leak. It ended up spending six days in Earth orbit before burning up in the atmosphere. So maybe the universe is trying to tell us something.
Regardless of what you think of the merits of the Navajo Nation’s complaint, it does open up a larger discussion about the cultural heritage of the moon. The moon is…well, the moon. It’s been the same moon we’ve had since the dawn of humanity. Yes, our understanding of it has changed over the millennia, but it’s still recognizable to every single human culture throughout the world and throughout time. We’ve worshipped it as a deity, used it to mark the rhythms of our lives, and carefully observed it to unlock the mysteries of the universe.
Yeah, a few settlements or some minor mining operations aren’t necessarily going to be visible to the unaided eye, but it’s not hard to imagine that spiraling out of control. Consider scenes from, I don’t know, The Expanse, with glittering cities across the lunar nearside. It looks cool and all, but we need to ask: is that what we want? Do we want the Moon to look like that?
Now, I love me a good city skyline view, but I also love mountains and forests and Atacama deserts just as much. On Earth, I get a choice: I can live in a dense urban environment, or I can retreat into the woods. I have the freedom to choose what I want to look at. With the moon, you don’t get a choice. If we industrialize the moon, it affects everybody across the world equally. What one government, company, or even person decides has global consequences.
Right now, there are no regulations or restrictions on what a private individual can do. Nobody owns the Moon, and yet everybody has a stake in it. Some cultures still worship the moon as a deity, or use it to mark the rhythms of their lives, or carefully observe it to unlock the mysteries of the universe. And while their opinions don’t get to mandate what we do on the Moon, we can’t ignore them either.
Whatever we do on the moon, it’s going to have to be a group effort.
