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The head of the largest Native American tribe has criticized NASA and commercial companies over plans to send human remains to the moon on a rocket set to blast off from the Space Coast on Monday.
Representing nearly 400,000 people, Navajo Nation President Buu Nygren said he sent a letter in December to NASA and the U.S. Department of Transportation with concerns over a planned Monday launch of commercial company Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander because some of its payloads involve human remains headed to the moon where they would become a permanent memorial.
“The placement of human remains on the moon is a profound desecration of this celestial body revered by our people,” he said in a statement posted to Facebook on Thursday. “This act disregards past agreements and promises of respect and consultation between NASA and the Navajo Nation, notably following the Lunar Prospector mission in 1998.”
That mission sent the remains of geologist Eugene Shoemaker within a capsule aboard a probe commanded to crash land into the moon. Following criticism for that decision, NASA made a pledge to confer with Native American tribes on future plans, Nygren said. He also pointed out the Biden Administration has a memorandum in place that directs federal agencies to consult any decision regarding indigenous sacred sites.
While United Launch Alliance is gunning for its first successful launch of the new Vulcan Centaur rocket early Monday, NASA and commercial company Astrobotic have their own high hopes for success for the moon-bound payload.
Pittsburgh-based Astrobotic Technology’s Peregrine lunar lander will become the first mission to fly under NASA’s Commercial Lunar Payload Services (CLPS) contract when it takes off on ULA’s Vulcan. The launch is set for liftoff during a 45-minute window that opens at 2:18 a.m. Monday from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station’s Space Launch Complex 41.
Limited window backups are available early Tuesday-Thursday before further delays would force a push to Jan. 23. Space Launch Delta 45’s weather squadron forecasts an 85% chance for good launch conditions, which drops to 40% in the event of a 24-hour delay.
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