How much poop is there on the moon?

Illustrates Marcos de Lima

edition Felipe van Deursen

There are an estimated 96 bags of feces, urine and vomit left on the Moon by astronauts from the Apollo missions. Although NASA does not report the exact number, it does confirm that there is human waste in the lunar soil. “Astronaut solid waste produced during the trip [ou seja, dentro da nave] were not discarded on the Moon”, says Allard Beutel. But what was produced on the Moon remained on the Moon. The US space agency does not consider this material garbage. The idea is that, in the future, scientists will analyze this mountain of poop to see what kind of mutations our DNA suffers after a long exposure to radiation from space. In addition to urine and feces, there is also a lot of junk left by humans on the Moon.

moon dump

what we left there

96 bags of urine, feces and vomit

70 vehicles

12 pairs of boots

5 US flags that are white due to solar radiation

2 golf balls

hammers, tongs, rakes and shovels

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backpacks

blankets

towels

moistened papers

personal hygiene kits

food packaging

cameras

movie magazines

READ TOO

– Why didn’t man go to the moon more?

– What is a blue moon?

– Why does the Moon have so many craters?

– How do the phases of the moon influence the tides?

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