Research

MoonRISE: Re-Imagining Space Environments is a £1.245m UKRI funded project led by Dr Alessandra Marino, Senior Lecturer in Geography and Environmental Studies at The Open University (UK).

At a time of intensified lunar exploration, MoonRISE brings together planetary scientists, legal scholars, social scientists, ethicists, and artists to understand the opportunities and limits of plans for protecting sites of scientific, cultural and environmental importance on the Moon.

The project explores definitions of sites of interest, informed by global consultations and different communities’ input, and aims to build multilayered digital maps showing areas at risk and areas of significance. Ultimately, through interdisciplinary insights and engagement beyond the academy, the project will create principles and guidelines for equitable and sustainable governance to support policymaking in national and international fora, such as the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS).

This new era of lunar missions can shape the Moon’s future for generations. MoonRISE puts science, governance, law and ethics need in dialogue with each other around how to shape more equitable and sustainable futures for the Moon.