Fighting and littering are prohibited on the moon under new NASA regulations. It is also forbidden to desecrate historic landmarks like Apollo 11 Tranquility Base.
Under NASA’s new rules, the moon is banned from fighting and littering. It is also forbidden to desecrate historical landmarks such as the Apollo 11 Tranquility Base.
On Tuesday, the space agency released a set of guidelines for its lunar landing program.
The document is based on the 1967 Outer Space Treaty and other agreements. To date, eight countries have signed the Artemis Accords. These include the United States, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.
NASA chief Jim Bridenstine said he expects more countries to join forces to return astronauts back to the moon by 2024.
This promises to be the largest manned spaceflight program coalition in history, Bridenstine said and is expected to pave the way for possible missions to Mars.
Here is what the rules for conquering the moon say:
- All must come in peace;
- Secrecy is prohibited, and all launched objects must be identified and recorded;
- All participants agree to help each other in case of emergencies with astronauts;
- Space systems must be universal so that equipment is compatible with everyone, and scientific data must be shared;
- Historic sites must be preserved and any generated space debris must be properly disposed of;
- The safety of all-terrain vehicles and spacecraft should not be compromised by the presence of other vehicles in close proximity.
- Violators may be asked to leave.
“The coalition might say, ‘Look, you are in this program with all of us, but you are playing by different rules,” Bridenstine said.
The U.S. is still the only country that has sent people to the moon. However, Japan is going to create a plant on the Moon to produce hydrogen fuel by 2035.
Japanese scientists have also proposed using vertical lava tubes to build cities on the moon.