Tribes Call on NASA to Halt Desecration of Moon—Accuse NASA of bypassing promises to Native nations
Published in Barn Raiser in February 2024. A n ambitious public-private partnership has ushered in a new space race to the moon. However, tribal nations warn that the rush for lunar development bodes poorly for the moon—and the Earth. On February 22, a robotic lander called Odysseus became the first U.S. vehicle to land on the moon in more than 50 years. Intuitive Machines, which built and operated Odysseus, is one of 14 companies hired by NASA under Commercial Lunar Payload Services, or CLPS. The program allows private companies to bid on NASA contracts worth a total of $2.6 billion through 2028 to launch and land moon missions, manage onboard payloads and carry out scientific experiments. Through CLPS, NASA claims it is supporting new science and growing the commercial space economy. The inaugural moonshot was the month before, on January 8. It was the first since the missions of the 1960s and ’70s. NASA paid United Launch Alliance, a Lockheed Martin–Boeing joint venture, $110 millio