Space tourism is on a rise, and with that comes fears that some of the historic sites and artifacts on the moon could be destroyed or looted.

As such, the World Monuments Fund has placed Earth’s moon on a list of threatened heritage sites. In particular there are concerns that moon tourists could disturb historically significant sites, like the landing zone in the Sea of Tranquility, and the footprints left behind by Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.

And while that may not be something we need to worry about in the near future, it does make sense when you see how tourism has destroyed many historical sites in the National Parks when people choose to scratch their initials in the rocks, deface petroglyphs that are thousands of years old, or knock over ancient Indigenous Native dwellings for fun. 

Obviously it’ll be difficult for the Earth-based organization to do much physical protection of the site. The main purpose of this listing is to bring advocacy and awareness of the danger that the moon could be in from space-faring wealthy earthlings. The organization will work with governments, organizations, and communities to develop a conservation plan for the moon, up to and including exclusion zones for the wealthy moon visitors.