Wednesday, January 10, 2024

Navajo Nation And The Moon

"NASA responds to Navajo Nation's request to delay private mission placing human remains on the moon"

From my reading the Navajo Nation has asked NASA and the US Dept of Transportation to delay any private memorial space flights to the Moon which deposit human remains on the lunar surface. They claim this would be a "desecration of this sacred space."
 
NASA has said they have no jurisdiction over these private space ventures. The US government has "has formed an interagency group to review the Navajo Nation's objections". 
 
The private space company Celestis has said, "No individual religion can or should dictate whether a space mission should be approved... No one, and no religion, owns the moon, and, were the beliefs of the world's multitude of religions considered, it’s quite likely that no missions would ever be approved."
 
(I don't know how property rights and international law apply to the Moon, but I am inclined to site with Celestis on this one.)