– The moon may be without humans (at least for now), but there is a lot of humanity scattered over the lunar surface. A new website catalogs the heritage articles left on the moon, for posterity and for the public to refer to.
The Moon Registry, hosted by For All Moonkind, celebrates the sites and hardware that can now be found on Earth’s natural satellite. The free resource provides overviews of every robot and human mission that made contact with the moon, including details about the objects associated with the excursions that are still there today – from commemorative medals and flags to robbers and scientific experiments.
“The history of humans on the moon belongs to everyone on earth,” Michelle Hanlon, co-founder of For All Moonkind, a non-profit organization that focuses on protecting human heritage in space, said in a statement. “We are working to gain international recognition and protection for sites in space that have universal historical value. As part of this effort, we want to make sure that the details of humanity’s incredible journey into space – past, present and future – accessible to all. “
The For All Moonkind Moon Registry, launched on Thursday (March 11), contains entries for both robot and crew missions to the moon that are more than 50 years old. Each plate contains a brief description and photos of the mission, as well as a section for related items.
For example, each of the Apollo lunar landings has an entry for the descent stage of the lunar module that brought the astronauts to the surface, as well as an area to list the individual equipment and souvenirs left by the crew members.
“The visit to the moon was an incredible privilege and experience,” said Apollo 16-moon module pilot Charlie Duke, the tenth person to walk on the moon. “I can not wait for someone to go back and find the picture of my family that I left behind. In the meantime, the For All Moonkind Moon Registry is a spectacular resource. It’s one small way to share this achievement of humanity with humanity. . “
The Moon Register is a process that invites you to correct errors, contribute technical details and provide information regarding future missions. The site also collects personal stories of people who have contributed to the exploration of space and specifically the flights to the moon.
“An interactive registry for all the material on the moon set up by human activity is undoubtedly a worthy cause,” said Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist Harrison Schmitt, who flew people in during the last Apollo mission 1972 to land on the lunar surface. .
The Moon Registry was designed by creative director Bernie Hogya and was initially intended to serve as an educational resource and tool for For All Moonkind. However, the platform can also support a variety of services for historians, engineers, archaeologists and future lunar enterprises.
“When you think about how important history is as a compass for our future, it’s shocking to realize how inaccessible it is,” said James Hansen, historian and author of ‘First Man’, the authoritative biography of astronaut Neil Armstrong, said. “The For All Moonkind Moon Register is like a gateway to the history of human activities on the moon.”
“Even better, the Crowdsourcing feature will connect the people who worked on missions like Luna and Apollo directly with the students who will be inspired by their work to develop innovative solutions that we can not even understand,” “Hansen said.