– The moon may be devoid of people (at least for now), but there is plenty of humanity to be found scattered across the lunar surface. A new website catalogs the items of human heritage left on the moon for posterity and for the public to refer to.
Presented by For All Moonkind, The Moon Registry celebrates the sites and hardware now found on Earth’s natural satellite. The free resource provides overviews of all the robotic and human missions that made contact with the moon, including details on the objects associated with those excursions that are still around today – from memorial medallions and flags to robbers and science experiments.
“The history of humans on the moon belongs to everyone on Earth,” said Michelle Hanlon, co-founder of For All Moonkind, a nonprofit dedicated to protecting human heritage in space. “We are working towards international recognition and protection for locations in space that have universal historical value. As part of that effort, we want to ensure that the details of humanity’s incredible journey into space – past, present and future – are available to all. accessible. “
Launched on Thursday (March 11), the For All Moonkind Moon Registry contains entries for both robotic and manned missions to the Moon that date back more than 50 years. Each record has a brief description and photos about the mission, as well as a related items section.
For example, each of the Apollo moon landings has an entrance for the descent of the lunar module that brought the astronauts to the surface, as well as an area to list the individual equipment and memories left behind by the crew members.
“Visiting the moon was an incredible privilege and a wonderful experience,” said Charlie Duke, Apollo 16 lunar module pilot, the tenth person to walk on the moon. “I can’t 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 a small way to share this achievement of humanity with humanity. . “
The Moon Registry is a work in progress and invites crowdsourcing to correct any errors, contribute technical details and provide information on future missions. The site also collects personal stories from the people who contributed to space exploration and, in particular, the flights to the moon.
“An interactive registry for all the material on the Moon introduced by human activity is no doubt a worthy thing,” said Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist Harrison Schmitt, who flew on the last Apollo mission in 1972 to find people on the planet. lunar surface. .
Designed by creative director Bernie Hogya, the Moon Registry is primarily intended as an educational resource and outreach tool for For All Moonkind. However, the platform can also support a variety of services for historians, engineers, archaeologists and future lunar businesses.
“When you consider the importance of history as a compass to our future, it is shocking to realize how inaccessible it is,” said James Hansen, historian and author of “First Man,” the authorized biography of astronaut Neil Armstrong. “The For All Moonkind Moon Registry is like an all-access pass to the history of human activity on the Moon.”
“In fact, the crowdsourcing feature allows the people who have worked on missions such as Luna and Apollo to connect directly with the students who will be inspired by their work to develop innovative solutions that we can’t even manage yet. contain, ”said Hansen.