Sending Religious Texts to the Moon

image by Maria Camila Duque

According to NewScientist, we will be delivering religious texts to the Moon. (See Earth's backup: Sending Religious Texts to the Moon.) Apparently, Israel will be sending a Torah there to join the Bible, which the Apollo 15 mission left behind. (Where did they put it, I wonder?) Next come the I-Ching and the Vedas.

I enjoy this idea because it acknowledges the eventual demise of everything we know, while shamelessly engaging our shared impulse to live on, somehow, in ridiculous, creative ways. I also appreciate good record-keeping. This grand nod toward self-preservation makes the Moon an archive--a library not only for our physical exploits and outmoded space gear, but now for intentionally-placed items.

While this gesture arises from rampant anthropocentrism, it opens the horizon for new ways of engaging the Moon. Other than, say,  removing its "resources," thinking of the Moon in terms of resources, bombing it like a bunch sixth-grade boys (to see if we can take stuff from deeper down!), and leaving our trash there, framed as "relics" for future generations.

The good-natured engineers of team SpaceIL from Israel (the country spearheading the Torah-on-the-Moon project) said they'd like to bring the Moon a plate of hummus. Serving food to the Moon is a different act altogether. There's nothing in it for us, except the warm glow of whimsical giving, which must be a pinnacle of human ingenuity. And while not everyone agrees on the value of religious texts (or even human-preservation), I think we can all agree on food.

Interview with Team SpaceIL

 Kfir Damari, Yariv Bash and Yonatan Winetraub of Team SpaceIL

Team SpaceIL of Israel demonstrates not only the genius of Israeli innovation, but also the positive correlation between having fun and giving back. The nonprofit organization dedicates its efforts to inspiring future generations of scientists by offering lectures at local schools, featuring space-themed activities for kids on their website, and donating their profits to space and science education.

Its technology relies on Israel's expertise in developing small satellites. The team has received big-name backing (both moral and financial) from several institutes, including the Asher Space Research Institute, Tel-Aviv University, and the Israeli Nano-Satellite Association. 

A SpaceIL team member lectures at a local school.

Stay up-to-date with Team SpaceIL on Facebook, or show your support by visiting their store, which sells wonderfully-geeky accessories and apparel for all ages. 

Below, Team SpaceIL manager Oshrat Slama responds to the questions posed by Erin Langley in the article, The Google Lunar XPRIZE, and Offerings for the Moon, which encourages respect and sustainability in space exploration and entrepreneurship.

1. How would you like to show respect for the Moon in a way that gives, rather than takes?

By aiming for the Moon, we are putting it in the center of public interest again, after its exploration was neglected for a long time.

2. If you could bring an offering to the Moon from your culture, what would you choose, and how would you deliver it?

We would bring a nice plate of Humus and some pitta bread, and a CD wrapped as a gift of the late Israeli singer Arik Einstein, to represent the best of Israel’s culture.

3. How can you build respect for the Moon into your design?

We consider taking a scientific experiment onto the SpaceIL spacecraft to the moon, so we could learn more, explore it better, and celebrate the Moon.

4. a) How do you propose, theoretically or actually, to retrieve your craft after it has fulfilled its purpose? b) How can we reduce our impact on current and future space expeditions?

SpaceIL is working to recreate an Apollo effect: we encourage the young kids to be the next generation of scientists and engineers, so they can bring our spacecraft back from the moon in their future Israeli space missions.

5. How can you show respect for the Moon another way, here on Earth or out in space?

As mentioned before, we show respect for the moon by vast educational activity about it.  

Interview with Plan B

Alex Ivanov and Alex Dobrianski of Plan B

"Dreams, only dreams, and nothing more than dreams brought me to the competition," explains Alex Dobrianski of Google Lunar XPRIZE team, Plan B. "Everybody has different tricks up their sleeves. I have two – a design book from [rocket scientist] Boris Chertok, and knowledge of how to apply the software to old ideas."

Privately funded by Adobri Solutions Ltd, the Vancouver-based team is using existing technologies in software, microprocessors, communication, guidance and robotic systems to produce small weight vehicle capable of traveling to and transmitting data to and from the moon's surface. They also intend to deliver a hockey puck to the Moon, in a symbolic face-off. 

Plan B's rover

Plan B exhibits a blend of whimsy, practicality, and generosity. They explain, "[S]oftware today is [the main] part of any invention. [A]ll development in our team is free to share, to remix, to use commercially." Plan B also provides regular video updates of their progress.

Below, Plan B answers questions from Erin Langley's article, The Google Lunar XPRIZE, and Offerings for the Moon, which encourages respect and sustainability in space exploration and entrepreneurship.

1. How would you like to show respect for the Moon in a way that gives, rather than takes?

The attitude control of the craft will have a hockey puck embedded, and the landing will be a symbolic face-off, in respect to the idea that a flying hockey puck is complimentary to the ice.

2. If you could bring an offering to the Moon from your culture, what would you choose, and how would you deliver it?

On the wheels of our rover, there are 32 surfaces; on each can be printed a message. Anybody can deliver his/her message with any offering from any culture to the Moon. The warranty time for the message to stay on the lunar surface (to take into an account the modern state of a space exploration) - one million years. (18 surfaces already reserved for names.)

3. How can you build respect for the Moon into your design?

By offering rare element (for the Moon) - carbon. Why did the Earth capitalize on carbon? And the Moon is safer without it. Needs to share!

4. a) How do you propose, theoretically or actually, to retrieve your craft after it has fulfilled its purpose? b) How can we reduce our impact on current and future space expeditions?

Rover will be made from carbon fiber.
(a) Evaporating the craft/rover into vacuum of space will be done by a cycled metallurgical process.

(b) Building the permanent, compact, fully robotic base on the Lunar surface to manufacture any space-required equipment for a humankind.

5. How can you show respect for the Moon another way, here on Earth or out in space?

On each full moon, the space currency, Lunaro Sterling, will be half price.

The Google Lunar XPRIZE, and Offerings for the Moon

Moon Dance

Have you heard of the Google Lunar XPRIZE? XPRIZE is a foundation that creates incentivized prize competitions "to bring about radical breakthroughs for the benefits of humanity, thereby inspiring the formation of new industries and the revitalization of markets." Google created its Lunar XPRIZE to stimulate a grassroots generation of low-cost space exploration and entrepreneurship. Thirty privately-funded teams from all over the world have entered the race, which requires extreme feats of engineering. Of the 30 teams, 18 are still active. To win, the teams must create a spacecraft that can escape the Earth's gravity, travel 400,000 miles on a precise trajectory toward the Moon, slow down at just the right moment to enter its orbit, and successfully touch down on the Moon's surface. Then the robotic craft must travel 500 meters, and initiate a "mooncast" to deliver new images back to Earth. The winner gets 30 million dollars.

Planetariums across the country recently began showing Back to the Moon for Good, a film about the Google Lunar XPRIZE that chronicles our interface with the Moon, and proposes future scenarios of space enterprise. Tim Allen narrates this film, which features an epic musical score and over-the-top graphics that echo a prize so big they put it in CAPS. The film evokes a mix of inspiration and exasperation. On the one hand, it fosters awe of space as a frontier and of our technological capabilities. On the other, it propels a shortsighted and hyper-masculine approach to exploration.

While Back to the Moon for Good does not necessarily speak for the 30 teams that have applied for the prize, the film itself advocates a new colonialism. Colonialism differs from co-existence in that it depends on a set of unequal relationships. The film starts by listing the resources available on the Moon--water, aluminum, iron, gold, platinum--and explains how they "can help us out." Another scene shows the investigative missile L-Cross crashing headlong into a deep crater to see if the Moon has water. (It does.) The film says we can use this water to breathe, grow food, and make fuel. The film then presents the debris we have left on the Moon as "relics" for the delight of future astronauts. As sophisticated as our wreckage might be, it is essentially garbage. Not only does the film skew the way we perceive our impact on the Moon, but it suggests that we have no plans to clean it up.

Respectful space exploration is not a new idea. Senior research scientist Margaret Race of the SETI Institute has made it her mission to protect the planets. She especially likes to work with people to "develop materials about complex, controversial issues in space exploration and environmental protection." Work like this is crucial because no one has jurisdiction over the Moon or the planets, so we must cooperate globally to create policies that ensure respect.

The Moon enables our very existence, so a simple acknowledgement of reciprocity seems only natural. Our ancestors have honored the Moon for millennia. Attention to symbolism does not undermine scientific advancement, but rather allows us to participate with greater respect and awareness. Historically, anthropocentrism has yielded destruction and depletion on massive scales. We already know the outcome of this narrative. I do not mean to detract from the glory of outward expansion or scientific discovery. Respect and discovery go hand-in-hand, as do sustainability and entrepreneurship.

Think of it this way: When we go to someone's house, we show up with a gift. So far, our modern exchanges with the Moon have been to stake a claim on it, leave our trash on its surface, drill into its crust, and bomb it with a two-ton kinetic weapon. Talk about heavy-handed. Where is our finesse? When we broaden our sense of life to include all elements of a whole system, we understand that our actions on the Moon initiate a cascade of measures in the system's attempt to self-regulate. How much do we want to tinker with the Earth's satellite?

Without a doubt, we demonstrate respect for the Moon by devoting years of effort and expertise to exploring it. But this is not enough. Giving is the highest form of innovation, and we have the opportunity to give back. What better way to express the playful generosity of our genius than to literally bring an offering to the Moon? It is the gesture itself that changes the story.

I would like to invite the participants of the Google Lunar XPRIZE to create a new narrative by answering the following questions, which will positively alter your course for the Moon. Replies can be sent to offeringsforthemoon@gmail.com, and will be published upon receipt. This is a great way to generate enthusiasm and funding for your team.

1. How would you like to show respect for the Moon in a way that gives, rather than takes?

2. If you could bring an offering to the Moon from your culture, what would you choose, and how would you deliver it?

3. How can you build respect for the Moon into your design?

4. a) How do you propose, theoretically or actually, to retrieve your craft after it has fulfilled its purpose? b) How can we reduce our impact on current and future space expeditions?

5. How can you show respect for the Moon another way, here on Earth or out in space?

I propose that XPRIZE modify its mission to benefit not only humanity, but life as a whole. The final images of Back to the Moon for Good give the film's title an ominous ring. We see a lunar surface littered with buildings, cars, satellites, and settlements, expressions of our drive to "gather resources to help us live and work, or explore further." The Google Lunar XPRIZE entices us with a new frontier, and offers us a choice in how we explore it. An offering for the Moon may seem like one small step, but it is a giant leap for humankind.