A scenic view, once so charming, has been irretrievably ruined. Will it happen again?
Four astronauts have just circled the Moon and returned safely back to Earth. This (Artemis II, if you’ve been living under a rock for the last month-plus) is quite an achievement, and my saying so is admittedly quite an understatement. But I am disturbed by a thought regarding future lunar plans, and not just those of the United States but of other nations as well.
I have read of the near-future possibility of setting up permanent facilities on the lunar surface. Any such installations will experience day and night cycles, which we see from here as lunar phases. When enveloped in darkness, these lunar facilities will therefore undoubtedly also require artificial light sources. My concern is that these light sources will be visible from Earth. We will no longer have today’s lunar darkness. Our view of the Moon will be permanently despoiled.
Such despoilage has happened before. Consider the following two views of Diamond Point on Oahu in the Hawaiian Islands (Figure 1). The upper image is a screen shot from a movie starring Annette Funicello that dates from 1965 (I think I have that right), while the lower view was taken only a few decades later, in 2020:
Figure 1 These views of Diamond Point were taken in 1965 (upper) and 2020 (lower)
The once beautiful view of the natural landscape is now blocked by buildings and piers. The scenic view that was once so charming has been ruined. And sadly, that loss is irretrievable, at least within our lifetimes.
It looks like we are about to do the same thing to our Moon.
John Dunn is an electronics consultant and a graduate of The Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn (BSEE) and of New York University (MSEE).
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