One person's junk is another person's treasure or in this case; moon junk, another's treasure. We hear that there is a lot junk floating around in space. Unfortunately, the moon has the most garbage outside of the Earth's atmosphere. The moon has been accessible for decades, not hundreds or thousands of years. In this short period the moon has stockpiled an estimated seventy thousand kilos of debris on our once pristine celestial body. Thus, welcome to the most distant junkyard we have.
Thankfully, out of this calamity a group of space enthusiasts are trying to preserve objects that are left on the moon. Such as Beth O'Leary, co-founder of the Lunar Project, headquarter at the University of New Mexico says, "I am interested in items such as the lunar laser ranging retro reflector." This is a device that calculates the distance between the moon and Earth and was left behind by Apollo 11. The group also has its eye on other moon treasures such as a Hasselblad camera, air sickness bags, and astronaut boots. Undoubtedly, the most import objects are the glorious remains that were left behind by the historical Apollo 11 mission.
O'Leary stated, "We all own the moon. It wasn't one country that put people on the moon. It was scientists and engineers from all over the world that made it possible for those people to take the first steps." She wants to have the celestial body designated a UNESCO world heritage site, a process that involves listing objects left there then moving the application process to the national level.
The California historic preservationists have recently registered the remains of the Apollo 11 mission in the so-called Sea of Tranquility as a "Historical Resource." Due to the fact that space archaeologists are scared about future missions to the moon or even moon tourists could loot or destroy this sacred celestial site. Due to her hard work she is identified as a leader in the emerging field of space heritage and archaeology.
