The current and last issues of Archaeology, a publication of the AIA, discussed the future prospects of space tourism and the need to protect historical objects orbiting our planet and left behind on the moon. Objects from the earliest days of the American and Russian space programs, these relics testify to humanity's first efforts to travel beyond the confines of the Earth and to reach out to worlds far beyond us.
Over the next few decades, as space tourism becomes commercialized, average people may be able to take trips to the moon. Some archaeologists caution that plans need to be in place to protect artifacts in orbit and on the lunar surface. Something as iconic as Neil Armstrong's footprints on the moon's surface could easily be destroyed by the mere brush of a hand.
An interview regarding these concerns can be found on the Archaeology magazine website. For the articles see Archaeology 60:5 (Sept./Oct. 2007) and 60:6 (Nov./Dec. 2007).
Over the next few decades, as space tourism becomes commercialized, average people may be able to take trips to the moon. Some archaeologists caution that plans need to be in place to protect artifacts in orbit and on the lunar surface. Something as iconic as Neil Armstrong's footprints on the moon's surface could easily be destroyed by the mere brush of a hand.
An interview regarding these concerns can be found on the Archaeology magazine website. For the articles see Archaeology 60:5 (Sept./Oct. 2007) and 60:6 (Nov./Dec. 2007).
