If you read an article that says signs of intelligent life have been found on the moon, you might suspect a fraud. But there are! Humans have dumped many things on the moon, both manually and from unworked rockets. So after the apocalypse, what unusual things will an archaeologist find on our only natural satellite?
The obvious
Yes, we left parts for rockets, probes, and rovers. Only the upper part of the Apollo Lunar Excursion Module left the moon. (See for yourself in the Apollo 17 ascent video below.) The ground is still there, along with the lunar rovers and a host of other scientific instruments and equipment. There are boots and cameras, as you might expect.
But what about the weird stuff? As of 2012, NASA compiled a list of all known debris from Earth. The list begins with items from US non-Apollo programs such as the Explorer and Lunar Prospector missions. Next is the Apollo stuff, actually quite a bit: about 400,000 pounds, we’ve heard. This goes from the whole landing stage and the moon shoes to the urine bags. There are even commemorative plaques and a golden olive branch.
After that, the list shows what is known to be evident in the Russian space program, as well as items of Chinese, Indian, Japanese, and European origin.
Sentimental
Charles Duke on Apollo 16 left a framed family photo on the Moon with an inscription on the back. We think that if you want it now, the sun will have bleached it, but we appreciate the feeling.
There are several memorials to fallen astronauts and cosmonauts, including a piece of the Apollo 1 mission. You may recall that a fire during training killed all three Apollo 1 crew members.
The Lunar Prospector brought part of the ashes of Gene Shoemaker, the geologist who trained the Apollo astronauts, to the moon. The ash capsule holds the words from Romeo and Juliet:
And, when he died
Take him out with little stars
And he will make the face of heaven beautiful
That all the world will fall in love with the night,
And don’t pray to the hot sun.
So far, Shoemaker is the only man left on the moon.
Although not quite sentimental, NASA sent a silicon disc to the moon with Apollo 11 containing messages of kindness from 73 countries. Everything is worth half a US dollar, so if you want to read the messages, you’d be better off reading the related document.
Making small, finely detailed silicon wafers was very high technology in the late 1960s. GCA Corp used a reduction camera to create a negative image mask containing all the letters and text around its edge at its final size. This mask was given to Sprague, who wrote it.
Odd
One of the rarest items on NASA’s list is a falcon feather. That was left to Davis Scott of Apollo 15, who conducted an earlier experiment of dropping a feather and a hammer to note that they fell at the same speed, even when the moon’s gravity was weak. The feather came from Baggin, the Air Force Academy’s mascot, and resides on the lunar surface today.
Speaking of Baggin, there are 96 bags of human waste sitting there. It’s best not to bring it up the next time you and your partner are on the cusp of a romantic honeymoon.
Unconfirmed
Forrest Myers created a small clay museum with miniature art from six artists, such as Andy Warhol, titled “Moon Museum.” The tile has six designs, including “AW” (Warhol), line (Robert Rauschenberg), black square (David Novros), drawing (John Chamberlain), Mickey Mouse (Claes Oldenburg), and compact design (Myers). Apparently, Novros and Chamberlain were inspired by regional paintings of some kind.
Bell Labs created the wafer. However, NASA failed to approve the project, and Myers sought an alternative.
Myers reportedly gave the chip to an unnamed Apollo 12 engineer who attached it to the leg of the lunar module. However, NASA has not confirmed this, so we don’t know for sure if it is high or not. Maybe when you get to the neighborhood, you can take a look and let us know?
In the Waste Valley
You might wonder why there are so many items left, but when you think about it, it makes sense. Rockets can only bring back so much material. Every camera you leave behind means more moon rocks to bring home. You can buy a new camera, but you can’t buy more moon rocks.
According to the Lunar Legacy Project, Apollo 11, along with other missions, had chosen launch sites. (We thought “dumping” didn’t sound good.)
If you’re looking for an up-to-date list, the Wikipedia article can help fill in the blanks, at least for cars. There were a few additions from NASA’s inventory, including items from the UAE, Israel, and Luxembourg. Also, there are many new additions from other countries.
With the advent of high-resolution orbital cameras, you can see some of the habitats better than ever. For example, the video below shows the Apollo 17 site imaged by the Lunar Reconnaissance Orbiter Camera.
Yes, we are on our way back to the moon, and so are other space programs. So there will probably be more human debris on the moon soon. It’s been a long time since lunar waste management became a hot topic.
Title image “Map of artifacts on the Moon” by [Footy2000]
