Sorry NASA: Pirates Will Plunder Apollo
With the advent of Google’s Lunar X Prize NASA has sent out the word that they don’t want anybody messing with the historic sites from the Apollo era: However sadly history proves that over the long term that just may not happen.
Above: NASA’s proposed do not go zone around the Apollo 17 landing site.
And while my bet is that when China lands on the moon they won’t be taking tourist shots you can bet that at some point in the future somebody will plunder the site for cash. The proof of this is the Titanic which went down in 2012, is the gravesite of 1514 people who perished — and yet you can buy knickknacks from the wreckage. It may be fair to say that by 2069 we may find that some lucky person will be able to buy an authentic moonbuggy or other cool items left behind.
Above: A section of the hull from the Titanic — one of 5,000 artifacts that went for auction.