Sign up for CNN’s Wonder Theory science newsletter. Explore the universe with news about fascinating discoveries, scientific advancements and more.
The White House held a last-minute meeting to discuss a special mission to the moon scheduled to launch within days after the largest group of Native Americans in the United States asked the administration to delay the flight because it would carry cremated humans. He is doomed to be buried on the Moon.
If successful, the commercial mission called Peregrine Mission One, scheduled to launch on Monday, would be the first time an American-made spacecraft has landed on the lunar surface since the Apollo program ended in 1972. But Navajo Nation Chairman Buu Nygren said: Allowing the remains to land there would be an insult to many indigenous cultures that revere the moon.
“The Moon has a sacred place in Navajo cosmology,” Nygren said Thursday. “The proposal that this be turned into a resting place for human remains is deeply disturbing and unacceptable to our people and many other tribal nations.”
Private companies Celestis and Elysium Space, which provide lunar burial services, are just two of several paying customers who have hitched a ride to the moon aboard Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander. The uncrewed spacecraft is expected to lift off on the inaugural flight of United Launch Alliance’s Vulcan Centaur rocket from Florida’s Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.
Celestis’ payload, called Tranquility Flight, contains 66 “memorial capsules” containing “cremated remains and DNA.” It will remain on the lunar surface “as a lasting tribute to the brave souls who never stopped reaching for the stars,” according to the company’s website.
“We are aware of the concerns expressed by Mr. Nygren, but do not consider them material,” Celestis CEO Charles Chafer told CNN.
“We reject the claim that our memorial spaceflight mission desecrated the moon,” Chafer said. “Just as permanent memorials to the dead exist all over planet Earth and are not considered a desecration, our memorial on the moon is treated with care and respect and is a permanent memorial that did not intentionally launch flight capsules to the moon. This is a touching and timely celebration for our participants; It is a celebration, the opposite of desecration.”
Elysium Space did not respond to CNN’s request for comment, but the company’s website states that the “Lunar Memorial” “helped create this exquisite memorial by delivering a symbolic portion of the ruins to the Moon’s surface.”
“I am disappointed that this conversation came up so late in the game,” said John Thornton, CEO of Astrobotic Technology. “I would have loved to have had this conversation a long time ago. We announced the first payload manifest of this nature to our mission in 2015. A second in 2020. We’re really trying to do the right thing, and hopefully we can find a good path forward with the Navajo Nation.”
Dawn of the lunar economy
This isn’t the first time the Navajo Nation has raised concerns about moon burials. In a December letter to NASA Administrator Bill Nelson and Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, Nygren was referring to NASA’s Lunar Exploration mission, in which a spacecraft carrying the remains of former astronaut Eugene Shoemaker deliberately crashed into the moon in 1999.
“At the time, Navajo Nation Chairman Albert Hale expressed our objections to this action. In response, NASA issued a formal apology and pledged to consult with tribes before authorizing further missions carrying human remains to the Moon,” Nygren said.
While NASA is the primary customer for this mission, it remains one of many customers paying to put technology and cargo on Astrobotic’s lunar lander.
The space agency paid Astrobotic $108 million to develop the lander and bring science experiments to the moon, Sandra Connelly, NASA’s deputy science mission director, said at Friday’s press conference. The space agency also developed the Artemis Accords, a document signed by the United States and 32 of its allies that determines what should and should not be allowed on the moon.
“We recognize that some non-NASA commercial payloads may be a concern to some communities and that those communities may not understand that these missions are commercial. “These are not U.S. government missions,” said Dr. Joel Kearns, NASA’s deputy administrator for exploration.
Peregrine Mission One marks the beginning of NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS, initiative; This initiative allows the US space agency to outsource the launch and transportation of lunar cargo to private companies. The mission is at the dawn of the lunar economy and the rules are still evolving.
“American companies carrying equipment, cargo and payload to the Moon is a whole new industry that everyone is learning about — a nascent industry,” Kearns said. “We take the concerns expressed by the Navajo Nation very, very seriously.
Nygren, representing approximately 430,000 people Enrolled members of the Navajo Nation say the tribe “is not opposed to scientific progress or space exploration” but “remains deeply concerned about the lack of oversight and regulation of non-NASA commercial payloads, especially when such payloads contain human remains.”
Who controls the moon?
The Federal Aviation Administration’s Office of Commercial Space Transportation is responsible for licensing all private space launches in the United States. But by law, the office has oversight authority only over matters related to “public health and safety, property security, and the national security and foreign policy interests of the United States.”
“The Federal Aviation Administration’s role is legally limited to ensuring that space flights do not pose a security or national security threat to the United States,” a Department of Transportation spokesperson told CNN.
But Justin Ahasteen, executive director of the Navajo Nation Washington Office, calls that claim “ridiculous.”
“In fact, they claim that anything can be sent into space. Does this mean people can ship drugs? Does this mean people can ship hazardous materials? “I think the lack of oversight is really concerning for the country,” Ahasteen told CNN.
The debate raises new questions about who controls Earth’s only natural satellite at the dawn of a race to colonize the moon.
“No one person and no religion owns the moon,” Celestis’ CEO told CNN. “It is quite possible that if the beliefs of the world’s many religions were taken into account, no mission would ever be approved. Simply put, we do not and have never allowed religious beliefs to guide humanity’s space efforts. There is no religious test and there should not be.”
Ahasteen argues that the Navajo Nation’s goal is not to claim the moon.
“We say be respectful. “We’re turning the Moon into a graveyard and a landfill,” Ahasteen said. “At what point do we stop and say we need to start protecting the Moon like the Grand Canyon?”
Representatives from NASA, the FAA, the US Department of Transportation and the Department of Commerce are scheduled to attend the meeting held by the White House on Friday. But Navajo Nation officials have little hope they can stop Monday’s launch.
“From what we’ve seen, and NASA is already giving pre-launch briefings, it appears they have no intention of stopping the launch or removing debris,” Ahasteen said.
For more CNN news and newsletters, create an account at CNN.com