Hopes of uncovering the history of our universe could be scuppered by billionaire space tourists and greedy private companies, an expert has warned.
Dr Martin Elvis, an astrophysicist at Harvard University, said particular areas on the far side of the Moon provide a unique opportunity for astronomy.
Scientific studies here could enhance our understanding of the solar system, the possibility of life beyond Earth and the evolution of the universe.
But there are no international rules in place to protect these special sites, he said, and the current ‘free for all’ could wreck future research opportunities.
‘At the same time that having people on the moon enables us to do great new things that will make today’s best telescope look like toys, the activities of humans can actually disturb the very environment that we’re going there for,’ he told journalists ahead of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) conference in Boston.
‘So we’ve got this balancing act and at the moment, there is no balance because there’s no protection for science at all on the moon.’
He said although the surface area of the moon is large, the number and size of places that people want to utilise are ‘really not that big’.
One important site is the far side of the moon, which is the most radio-quiet location in the solar system, he explained.
Hopes of uncovering the history of our universe could be scuppered by billionaire space tourists and greedy private companies, an expert has warned
Dr Martin Elvis, an astrophysicist at Harvard University, said particular areas on the far side of the Moon provide a unique opportunity for astronomy
Having a radio telescope there could enable the study of the cosmic ‘Dark Ages’ – a period during the early universe when sources of light were cloaked in a dense fog – and the habitability of other planets.
Meanwhile the ‘pits of eternal darkness’ – areas of the moon that are consistently in the shade – offer similarly impressive advantages for far-infrared astronomy, revealing details of the universe that are otherwise hidden.
However a flurry of upcoming missions, both scientific and non-scientific, will target some of these very same sites and threatens to degrade their value to science, he said.
When asked what commercial endeavours could put scientific research at risk he said: ‘My usual bet is going to be on space tourism.
‘There’s a desire there from the billionaire class – “I would love to spend a week on the moon”.’
He also said there has been interest from commercial companies in water mining on the moon, as well as digging up helium-3 which is used in some forms of quantum computing.
‘The big question is, who decides whether a site is going to be for astronomy or for water mining?’ Dr Elvis said.
‘What’s to stop some country or company coming along saying “Well, I don’t care, this is my favourite spot for digging and water mining, so I’m going to do it.”
‘And there isn’t really an answer to that that’s definitive right now.’
Dr Elvis is co-chair of the International Astronomical Union, a working group that aims to investigate these issues and bring them to the notice of countries around the world.
He said their aim is to to ‘hopefully start to persuade them that they should be looking out for science as much as they are looking out for commercial interests or human exploration.’
‘Any of these different things can be made much harder to work with by uncoordinated use of the moon,’ he added.
‘It’s sort of a first-come first-served situation, which encourages people to rush in and do things without thinking too hard.’
He warned that some form of an international agreement must be put in place within the next decade before it is too late.
‘We’re in this brief period of time where we think we know the problem but nobody’s got a vested interest,’ he concluded.
