The Moon’s surface is strewn with many man-made items, from spacecraft to bags of urine to colossal plaques. Most are spacecraft, quite 70 vehicles altogether dispersed over the lunar surface.
What do the subsequent items have in common?
5 American flags
12 pairs of shoes
96 bags of urine, feces, and vomit
A photograph of Apollo 16 astronaut Charles Duke’s family
If you guessed that these are all among the things on the moon, then you’re correct. In total, the moon has over 400,000 pounds of artificial material, and that we humans constantly boost that pile. Humans crash probes into the moon—a tedious method for bringing unmanned missions to an in-depth. And these crashes often leave behind lots of trash.
But is that this trash a controversy, or simply the price of doing space travel?
Weighing in is Jerry Linenger, a former NASA astronaut. He was the only real American on board the Russian orbiter Mir, which survived the worst fire in space exploration history. He’s also the author of “Off the earth.”
In addition to the things mentions above, here’s a rough list of stuff on the moon, in line with The Atlantic.
More than 70 spacecraft, including rovers, modules, and crashed orbiters
TV cameras
Film magazines
Numerous Hasselblad cameras and accessories
Several improvised javelins
Various hammers, tongs, rakes, and shovels
Backpacks
Insulating blankets
Utility towels
Used wet wipes
Personal hygiene kits
Empty packages of space food
A feather from Baggin, the Air Force Academy’s mascot falcon, accustomed conduct Apollo 15’s famous “hammer-feather drop” experiment
A small aluminum sculpture, a tribute to the American and Soviet “fallen astronauts” who died within the space race — left by the crew of Apollo 15
A patch from the never-launched Apollo 1 mission, which ended prematurely when flames engulfed the module during a 1967 work out, killing three U.S. astronauts
A small silicon disk bearing goodwill messages from 73 world leaders, and left on the moon by the crew of Apollo 11
A silver pin, left by Apollo 12 astronaut Alan Bean
A medal honoring Soviet cosmonauts Vladimir Komarov and astronaut
A cast golden offering left by the crew of Apollo 11