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Restoring the Geophysical Dynamics of the Earth < > Moon Relationship

status:

2022

plexiglass, aluminum

1 x 1 x 1 cm

Jorick de Quaasteniet

A small cube containing an aluminium sphere. The work reflects on the consequences of future lunar mining. Part of the Moon Gallery Project.

What happens when we only take from the Moon and don’t give back? Will we disturb the equilibrium that has kept our moon in orbit around the planet that we inhabit? If so, what could be the consequences? To avoid this, I propose to somewhat restore the balance by returning a small amount of aluminum, one of the most common metals in both the Earth’s and the Moon’s surface, back to the Moon. With lunar mining rapidly becoming a thing of the near future instead of the distant future, we ought to think about what might be potential outcomes. We only have to look at our past to see how quickly the human species becomes expert at something that’s profitable. At the beginning of the industrial age, people weren’t worried about the relatively small amounts of pollutants they pumped in the air. The open air was seen as something limitless. 200 years later we are dealing with the consequences. Could lunar mining have a similar fate?

Full Record Details

Title

Date

Medium

Dimensions

Genre

Style

Artist

Collection

Restoring the Geophysical Dynamics of the Earth < > Moon Relationship

2022

plexiglass, aluminum

1 x 1 x 1 cm

Sculpture

Jorick de Quaasteniet

Moon Gallery

Launch

Date

Mission

Operator

Location

State

COSPAR id

19 Feb 2022

Antares 230+ / NG-17 Cygnus resupply mission

Northrop Grumman

Wallops Island, VA, USA

USA

2022-015A

Space

Location

Platform

Operator

COSPAR id

LEO

International Space Station

NASA, ESA, Roscosmos, JAXA, CSA

1998-067A

Return

Date

Vehicle

Operator

Landing

COSPAR id

Status

Location

11 January 2023

Dragon CRS-26

SpaceX

Gulf of Mexico

2022-159A

Returned

Moon Gallery Foundation

Artist

Jorick de Quaasteniet

Jorick de Quaasteniet

The Netherlands

Collection

Moon Gallery

Moon Gallery Foundation

Moon Gallery

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