Peregrine Mission One, a lander launched from Cape Canaveral in the US state of Florida, is intended to be the first privately financed lander to land on the moon. Before the launch, there was excitement about parts of the mission that would bring human remains to the lunar surface. The Navajo Nation, the largest representation of Native Americans in the United States, had criticized this. There were discussions about this in the White House last Friday. But they neither delayed nor prevented the launch of the new Vulcan rocket. The US government is not carrying out the mission, but is simply the client in the form of the space agency NASA.
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“Desecration” of a sacred celestial body?
Like the president of the Navajo Nation before the meeting in the White House, the criticism of parts of the mission is about the treatment of the moon as a celestial body that is sacred not only to the Navajo, but to many indigenous cultures. Bringing human ashes there would violate the agreements made with the Navajo. In 1998, the Indian Reservation representative criticized the Lunar Prospector mission because it also brought ashes of astronomer Eugene Shoemaker to the moon. The US government then promised to consult the Navajo Nation on similar projects from now on. But that didn’t happen now.
As part of Peregrine Mission One, there are now two mission parts with human remains. On the Celestis Voyager Memorial Spaceflight Human remains, including those of actors and creators of the Star Trek science fiction series, are flown into space. With Elysium Lunar 1, the remains are transported to the moon and that is exactly what is being criticized. NASA has justified the non-inclusion of the Navajo Nation by saying that these are not NASA missions. Opposite ArsTechnica Those responsible for the privately organized mission contradicted the Navajo’s criticism that the procedure was the opposite of desecration.
After launch, the Peregrine lander is now on its way to the moon. It is supposed to bring various payloads there. The US company responsible for it, Astrobiotic, claims it opens the door to the next phase of science, exploration and commerce on the moon and beyond. Dozens more missions are to follow, plus the planned and announced missions from China and India. There are already fears in research that there will be a real “moon rush” and that scientifically valuable places will come under the radar.
(mho)