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A Fire in Boston by Moonlight (detail), Robert Salmon, c. 1830\u20131835<\/p>\nThe upper stage of the Falcon 9 rocket, launched by SpaceX in collaboration with NASA on 15 January 2025 from the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, crashed at 8,690 km\/h in the northern hemisphere of the Moon Wednesday 5 August 2026 in the morning. This assault on the celestial body, caused by an error or negligence in the command of the Blue Ghost 1 commercial mission, carved out a crater and sent up a huge clood of lunar geological dust and toxic dust from the splitting of the rocket\u2019s upper stage (15 to 20 metres long, 3.9 tonnes) and the harmful substances and materials on board.<\/p>\n
NASA views this moonquake as an opportunity to study the dispersion of waste across the surface and the resistance to seismic shocks. Its spokesperson stated that this event is \u201ca technically accepted and safe method of disposing of hardware in low lunar orbit\u201d. This utilitarian view of the Moon demonstrates that, for the United States of America, the conquest of new habitable spaces and new resources begins with the establishment of an informal dumping ground, without taking into account the threats of continued contamination of the extraterrestrial environment.<\/p>\n
It is true that, in this regard, the United States of America is free from any obligations. \u201cThe Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies\u201d, opened for signature in 1979 under the auspices of the United Nations, was ratified in 2011 by 10 States. Fifteen years later, only 17 States have ratified it (1) and none of them are involved in the race to conquer the Moon. Article 7 of this agreement states that \u201cin exploring and using the Moon, States Parties shall take measures to prevent the disruption of the existing balance of its environment, whether by introducing adverse changes in that environment, by its harmful contamination through the introduction of extra-environmental matter or otherwise\u201d.<\/p>\n
In 2011, in its report \u201cSpace Waste\u201d (2), Robin des Bois had identified 180 tonnes of waste produced by humankind scattered across the Moon since 1959. By 2018, this had risen to 200 tonnes. Today, the total is estimated at nearly 223 tonnes.<\/p>\n
In the summer of 2026, the Earth is burning, and on the Moon, humanity has created a polluted site in the blink of an eye.<\/p>\n
A Fire in Boston by Moonlight (detail), Robert Salmon, c. 1830\u20131835<\/p>\n