United Launch Alliance (ULA) and Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic are about to make history.
On January 8, a ULA rocket will send Astrobiotic’s Peregrine lander toward the moon. If it lands successfully, Peregrine will be the first private lander to reach the lunar surface. The mission will also be the first launch of ULA’s new Vulcan Centaur rocket.
Riding on Peregrine is a wide range of scientific instruments developed by NASA that will pave the way for future lunar exploration as part of the agency’s Artemis program. However, the mission manifest also includes human DNA and remains that went on commemorative space flights offered by two different companies, Celestis and Elysium Space. While Celestis will send one of its monument payloads to the final frontier of deep space during the Enterprise mission, the Tranquility payload will go to the moon aboard the Peregrine lander. Elysium Space will also place its own payload on the Moon along with Peregrine.
In response, the President of the Navajo Nation said, Buu Nygrenfiled a formal appeal with NASA and the U.S. Department of Transportation for what it called an act of disrespect. “It is very important to emphasize that the moon holds a sacred position in many Indigenous cultures, including our own,” Nygren wrote in his Dec. 21 letter. Any other location on the Moon would be tantamount to desecration of this sacred site.” Nygren asked NASA to delay the mission until the objections of the Navajo Nation were resolved.
At a pre-launch science briefing on Thursday, Jan. 4, NASA representatives addressed the controversy over payloads containing human remains included in the mission, stating that the mission was a private, commercial effort and that NASA had contracted only for the mission. Scientific payloads to be transported to the Moon. “We don’t have a framework to tell them what they can and can’t fly,” said Chris Culbert, program manager for Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) at NASA’s Johnson Space Center in Houston. “The approval process for commercial missions is not conducted through NASA.”
Relating to: Navajo Nation opposes special lunar mission that places human remains on the Moon’s surface
Private companies that launch payloads as part of the CLPS program “don’t have to clear those payloads” before launch, Culbert added. “So these are really business missions and it’s up to them to sell what they sell,” Culbert said.
Joel Kearns, deputy administrator for exploration in the Science Mission Directorate at NASA Headquarters, acknowledged that these commercial missions could spark more controversy.
“With these new opportunities and new ways of doing business, we recognize that some non-NASA commercial payloads may be a concern for some communities,” Kearns said. “And these communities may not understand that these missions are commercial and not U.S. government missions as we talked about.”
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Kearns added that some of these commercial payloads could even be used for things like advertising, which could lead to further public backlash.
But Kearns noted that these early missions will allow NASA and other agencies to learn more about how access to the moon will be regulated in the future. “Through these initial landings and subsequent landings, we’re going to learn about all the different issues or concerns that this creates. And I’m sure as time goes on, how do we look at this or how do the industry itself create standards or guidelines for how they’re going to move forward?”
During the briefing, he said the U.S. government had formed an interagency group to review the Navajo Nation’s objections and requests for delays.
Celestis, on the other hand, does not find these objections to be fundamental.
Celestis CEO and co-founder Charles Chafer said, “The regulatory process for approving space missions does not consider compliance with the tenets of any religion in the process, for obvious reasons. No religion can or should determine whether a space mission is approved.” said. in a statement emailed to Space.com.
“No one person and no religion owns the Moon, and it is quite possible that no mission will ever be approved, given the beliefs of the many religions around the world,” Chafer added. “Simply put, we do not and have never allowed religious beliefs to guide humanity’s space efforts; there is and should not be a religious test.”
Editor’s Note: This story was updated at 6:21 PM ET to reflect that Celestis has a load of cream and DNA on its way to the moon on the Peregrine lunar lander, in addition to its payload from the Vulcan Centaur’s first flight. Updated again at 8:50 PM ET to include a statement from Celestis’ Charles Chafer.