The Moon could be badly exploited and suffer irreversible damage, astronomers said, in an effort to caution those who wish to survey the lunar landscape. Dozens of probes are gearing up to do so over the next few years.
For example: just this week, the Peregrine mission one was announced to be preparing for its launch on Monday, making it the first US Moon lander since Apollo. The mission will aim to locate water molecules on the Moon, measure radiation and gasses around the lander, and evaluate the lunar exosphere, according to
NASA.
But some astronomers are cautioning the excitement by warning that unrestricted access to the Moon’s resources could cause irreversible damage, and could upend future research opportunities.
Professor Richard Green, an astronomer from the University of Arizona, echoed those sentiments, adding: “We are not trying to block the building of lunar bases. However, there are only a handful of promising sites there and some of these are incredibly precious scientifically. We need to be very, very careful where we build our mines and bases.”
These craters could be used to house tools like infra-red telescopes which are required to be cooled constantly. But these craters could also contain water in the form of very cold ice that failed to evaporate in the early stages of the Moon’s life. Therefore, these seas of ice could hold information about how and when water arrived both on the Moon---as well as on Earth.
But lunar pole water, as well as many of the minerals found there, could be easily taken from by colonists and used for the construction of permanent bases on the Moon.
Plans to create a legislature to protect interplanetary resources may go into effect later this month. A working group created by the International Astronomical Union is planning to meet UN officials to begin negotiations, according to one
report.
A 2018
study brought by ESA predicts that between $73 and $170 billion in revenue could be generated annually from the exploitation of celestial resources until 2045. Global powers may also have vested interests in lunar resources, such as helium-3 which is a key component of nuclear fusion.
International treaties created during the Cold War prohibit the national appropriation of outer space, the Moon, and other celestial bodies. However, just because they don’t “belong” to any particular party or group, does not mean they cannot be exploited. Rafael Harillo, a lawyer, defines the problem succinctly: “The sea belongs to everyone and the fish belongs to [the people] who catch them.”
The Artemis Accords have already been signed by 33 countries, after first being launched in October of 2020 under the
Donald Trump administration. The agreement', which drew from the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, hopes to return humans to the Moon by 2025.