A former NASA lawyer says commercial activity is outpacing rules on the Moon, with pet ashes, adverts and artworks already being sent there. He warns that without stricter oversight, lunar debris could threaten future missions.
01Summary
- 01Celestis offers to send a “symbolic portion” of pet ashes to the Moon for $12,995, with the same price for human remains.
- 02Steve Mirmina, a Georgetown University professor and former NASA attorney, says there is no government agency with clear authority to regulate what private companies put on the Moon.
- 03Humans have left nearly 500,000 pounds of material on the Moon, mostly landers, surveyors and other dead spacecraft.
- 04Mirmina’s paper was published on 19 September in Air and Space Law, and he warns the Moon could become “Earth’s junk drawer”.
02Why it matters
The story matters because the lack of clear rules could make lunar missions messier and riskier as commercial launches increase. It also raises cultural and environmental concerns about how humans treat a place many people see as scientifically and symbolically important.
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