The Battle for the Moon Begins?

[sechan19]

In this post from BLDGBLOG - one of my favorite sites - the author discusses a recent move by the state of California to register items left behind on the moon by the Apollo 11 mission as "official State Historical Resource[s]."

I'm not entirely certain what California's claim on these items is. The Apollo 11 mission launched from Florida and landed in the Pacific Ocean, off the coast of Johnston Atoll (part of the Pacific Remote Islands Marine National Monument and closer to Hawaii than California). None of the crew were from California, having each been born in Ohio, New Jersey, and Rome, Italy, respectively.

At any rate, California is not alone in this enterprise. Texas and New Mexico are also poised to join in the efforts. The plan is to have Tranquility Base ultimately established as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, thus protecting it from future tourists and vandals. (Which is putting the cart way ahead of the horse, I think.)

Of course, in accordance with international treaties no nation can claim the moon as sovereign territory, but there's no provision against claiming man-made items left on the moon.

I wonder what international response will be to this maneuver.

Discarded Apollo 11 items left on the moon get California historical status (L.A. NOW).

Comments

[foxxydancr.livejournal.com]

epic action movie in the making!

[lordameth.livejournal.com]

I also was thinking, what claim does California have to any of this?

Totally bizarre.

But, as for doing something to claim and protect the site, I think it absolutely is a good idea. It may be a long time before the sites are actually in any danger from human vandals or tourists, but my concern isn't a practical one. Rather, from a historical/cultural point of view, it's something worth acknowledging and putting down on the list. Outside of the fact that the moon landing site (flag, footprints, etc) are not on this world, thus perhaps making it ineligible to be a "World" Heritage Site, I think UNESCO seems the perfect organization to add this to their list. No need to claim any US or other national sovereignty (or California state sovereignty - shame on you, CA.).

[reteva.livejournal.com]

Yes, you're absolutely right that making the moon a protected site is a worthwhile priority, irregardless of how far out we are right now from moon tourism.

I think that perhaps some part of it needs to be claimed by a sovereign nation, though, before it can come under the jurisdiction of UNESCO, and that's why US states have taken this initiative. I'm by no means very familiar with this issue, though, so... grain of salt, as usual. There's got to be some kind of silly red tape, though.