Researchers will send “the best of human history” to the Moon

The idea is less lunar than it seems. Benoit Faively, a French engineer working on the Sanctuary on the Moon project, will send “the best thing in human history” to the Moon. A way to make the history of our civilization eternal and theoretically accessible to future generations. “Talking to the people of the future also means talking about who we are in the present and what we are doing,” explained the founder of this major project during a press conference at UNESCO last April.

The idea of ​​​​placing an object on the Moon that was designed to last forever seemed obvious to him after talking with scientists. Then the question arose of what to put there. “Our first idea was to transfer the genomes there – male and female (…), we can read on the Sanctuary website. Then our organic recipe will live forever on the surface of another world. A major anthropological and philosophical breakthrough. »

24 ultra-hard sapphire discs engraved with billions of pixels.

The remaining data relates to human knowledge in the fields of science and art. “I designed Sanctuary as a kind of triptych, a kind of imperfect skeleton, but I thought it held up,” Benoit Favely explained at his press conference.

Specifically, the information will be encoded on 24 ultra-hard sapphire disks, on which billions of pixels are engraved. Objects with a diameter of 100 millimeters and a thickness of one millimeter are designed to be read with the naked eye and under a microscope. The discs will be placed in an aluminum container that will remain in place for millions of years and perhaps one day be found by a man or woman.

The capsule will be placed on the lunar surface as part of the Artemis program, a NASA mission expected to go to the Moon by 2027. But before the big launch, the goal is to share the contents of the discs with as many people as possible. perhaps people on earth. “We can’t wait for the next steps!” “, – the Sanctuary rejoices.