The Protection of Cultural Heritage Sites on the Moon: The Poo Bags Paradox

During the several human Moon missions, astronauts left more than 100 metric tons of objects on and around the landing sites. Among them, there are scientific materials, symbolic, commemorative and personal artefacts as well as bags containing human wastes (feces, urine and vomit). Today, some initiatives have been started in order to declare these sites as «cultural heritage» by both States and regional organisations. However, the very presence of these «poo bags» raises some issues for public international law. Indeed, they could constitute a real threat to the lunar environment and for scientific activities carried out on the Earth’s natural satellite. This article aims to present the paradox of these bags which, on the one hand need to be protected according to their future status of «cultural heritage» and part of cultural sites on the Moon and, on the other, should be removed in order to protect both scientific interests and the lunar environment.

1. 1.

   Quotation in: Beth Laura O’Leary, One Giant Leap: Preserving Cultural Resources on the Moon, in Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology, and Heritage, 2009, page 760.

2. 2.

   Luna 1, the first spacecraft sent to the Moon landed the 2nd January 1959.

3. 3.

   Beth Laura O’Leary, Evolution of Space Archaeology and Heritage, in Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology, and Heritage, 2009, page 33.

4. 4.

   UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 16 November 1972.

5. 5.

   Ibid., Article 1.

6. 6.

   Janet Blake, International cultural heritage law, Oxford University Press, 2015, page 13.

7. 7.

   Stephens, R. M. 2000. Letter dated August 18, 2000, from NASA Deputy General Counsel to the Lunar Legacy Projects regarding NHL designation of lunar artifacts at Tranquility Base. On file at the Rio Grande Archives, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM.

8. 8.

   Shull, C. 2000. Letter dated August 18, 2000, from Keeper of the National Register to the Lunar Legacy Project regarding the NHL designation of lunar artifacts at Tranquility Base. On file at the Rio Grande Archives, New Mexico State University, Las Cruces, NM.

9. 9.

   Article II, Treaty on the Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, opened for signature Jan. 27, 1967, 610 U.N.T.S. 205.

10. 10.

    NASA’s Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities: How to Protect and Preserve the Historic and Scientific Value of U.S. Government Lunar Artifacts, July 20, 2011.

11. 11.

    Ibid., page 17.

12. 12.

    H.R. 2617: Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, 2013, available on: https://www.govtrack.us/congress/bills/113/hr2617/text.

13. 13.

    State of California Department of Parks and Recreation Primary Record sheet available online at http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1067/files/tranquility%20base_draft.pdf).

14. 14.

    New Mexico Department of Cultural Affairs Historic Preservation Division file #1946 (http://www.nmhistoricpreservation.org/assets/files/registers/2012%20Report_%20Section%202_%20Arranged%20by%20County.pdf).

15. 15.

    The Guardian, Apollo 11 site should be granted heritage status, say space agency boss, July 19, 2019.

16. 16.

    Lotta Viikari, The environmental element in space law, assessing the present and charting the future, Studies in space law volume 3, 2008, page 51.

17. 17.

    M. N. Andem, The 1967 outer space treaty (1967 OST) as the Magna Carta of contemporary space law: a brief reflection, International Institute of Space Law, Issue 3, 2004.

18. 18.

    See e.g., International Court of Justice, Jadhav case (India v. Pakistan), Judgment, 17th July, 2019, page 20, para 71.

19. 19.

    Convention on the international liability for damage caused by space objects, opened for signature on March 29, 1972, U.N.T.S. 961, page 187.

20. 20.

    Ibid., Article 1.

21. 21.

    Treaty on the Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, opened for signature Jan. 27, 1967, 610 U.N.T.S. 205, article VIII.

22. 22.

    Bin Cheng, Legal status of spacecraft, satellites, and space objects, in Studies in International Space Law, Clarendon Press Oxford, 1997, page 3.

23. 23.

    S. Gorove, The recovery and return of objects launched into outer space: a legal analysis and interpretation, The International Lawyer, Vol. 4, No 4, July 1970, page 685.

24. 24.

    Article V of the space treaty does not provide that the astronauts are “envoys of mankind” but “shall be considered” as an “envoys of mankind”. Thus, the treaty refers to a fictive status of international law.

25. 25.

    Agreement on the Rescue of Astronauts, the Return of Astronauts and the Return of Objects Launched into Outer Space, opened for signature Apr. 22, 1968, 672 U.N.T.S. 119.

26. 26.

    Article 1, UNESCO Convention on the protection of the underwater cultural heritage, adopted on November 2nd, 2001.

27. 27.

    See e.g. the US Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act (2013) and the NASA’s Recommendations to Space-Faring Entities.

28. 28.

    Article 3, UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage, 16 November 1972.

29. 29.

    Section 8, H.R. 2617: Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, 2013.

30. 30.

    To date, ESA only sent a probe in lunar orbit (SMART-1) in 2003. The question of the protection of orbital cultural heritage on Moon is also discussed by scholars. See e.g.: Alice Gorman, Heritage of Earth orbit: orbital debris—its mitigation and cultural heritage, in Handbook of Space Engineering, Archaeology, and Heritage, 2009, page 381–397; Walsh, Justin St. P, Protection of humanity’s cultural and historic heritage in space, Space Policy, 28.4, 234–243, 2012.

31. 31.

    Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (ATCM), Guidelines for the assessment and management of Heritage in Antarctica, adopted in 2018, available at: https://www.ats.aq/documents/recatt/att643_e.pdf.

32. 32.

    Armel Kerrest, Actualités du droit de l'espace: la responsabilité des Etats du fait de la destruction de satellites dans l'espace, Annuaire Français de Droit International, vol 55, 2009, page 623.

33. 33.

    Article VIII, Treaty on the Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, opened for signature Jan. 27, 1967, 610 U.N.T.S. 205.

34. 34.

    Article 4 of the World Heritage convention provides that States have a duty in the transmission of the cultural to the future generations.

35. 35.

    FAA, Advanced Aerospace Medicine On-line, section III, 3.2, 2017, Available on: https://www.faa.gov/about/office_org/headquarters_offices/avs/offices/aam/cami/library/online_libraries/aerospace_medicine/tutorial/media/III.3.2_Waste_Management.doc.

36. 36.

    According to the National Wildlife Federation, approximately 42% of threatened or endangered species are at risk due to invasive species.

37. 37.

    For more information on the consequences of the presence of poo bags on Moon see: VOX, Apollo astronauts left their poop on the moon. We gotta go back for that shit, July 12, 2019, available at: https://www.vox.com/science-and-health/2019/3/22/18236125/apollo-moon-poop-mars-science.

38. 38.

    See e.g. H. J. Melosh, The rocky road to panspermia, Nature 332, page 687–688, 1988; Harmke Kamminga, life from space—A history of panspermia, Vistas in Astronomy, Vol 26, Part 2, pages 67–86, 1982, ….

39. 39.

    Article IX, Treaty on the Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, opened for signature Jan. 27, 1967, 610 U.N.T.S. 205.

40. 40.

    Ibid., Article III.

41. 41.

    Jutta Brunnée, Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, 2010, para 1.

42. 42.

    Declaration of the United Nations Conference on the Human Environment, Stockholm, 16 June 1972.

43. 43.

    Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 14 June 1992.

44. 44.

    Ibid., article 2.

45. 45.

    Jutta Brunnée, Sic utere tuo ut alienum non laedas, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, 2010, para 16.

46. 46.

    Philippe Sands and Jacqueline Peel, Principles of international environmental law, Third edition, Cambridge University Press, 2012, page 191.

47. 47.

    Article 4(6), Convention for the protection of the natural resources and environment of the south pacific region, adopted in 1986.

48. 48.

    The first man made satellite, Sputnik 1, has been orbited by Russia in 1957, in the frame of the International Geophysical Year (AGY). The strong presence of scientific activities into outer space can also be guess at the reading of the 1967 space treaty and in the 1979 Moon agreement which provide specific provisions related to the protection of scientific interest of the State.

49. 49.

    G. Kminek (ESA), C. Conley (NASA), V. Hipkin (CSA), H. Yano (JAXA), COSPAR’s Planetary Protection Policy, 2017 (last version).

50. 50.

    See e.g.: Stevens, Mary, The Precautionary Principle in the International Arena, Sustainable Development Law and Policy, Spring/Summer, 2002.

51. 51.

    Article 15, Rio Declaration on Environment and Development, Rio de Janeiro, 14 June 1992.

52. 52.

    Philippe Sands and Jacqueline Peel, Principles of international environmental law, Third edition, Cambridge University Press, 2012, page 222.

53. 53.

    Meinhard Schröder, Precautionary Approach/Principle, Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law, March 2014, para 1.

Authors and Affiliations

1. Université Paris-Sud, Orsay, France

   Hugo Lopez

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hugo Lopez .

Editors and Affiliations

1. European Space Policy Institute, Vienna, Austria

   Annette Froehlich

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