LONDON: Saudi cultural heritage will be included in the Sanctuary on the Moon, a project creating a time capsule that carries a compendium of human knowledge, art, and science to the lunar surface with the support of NASA and UNESCO.
French engineer Benoit Faiveley is leading a team of scientists, researchers, designers and artists to deposit 24 sapphire discs engraved with humanity’s cultural and scientific heritage.
He is visiting Saudi Arabia to coordinate with leading institutions in Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. They aim to explore cultural and scientific facets that could be included in the lunar time capsule, according to a statement from the project.
“With the extraordinary cultural dynamism taking place under Saudi Vision 2030, now is the perfect time to collaborate with Saudi museums and art institutions,” Faiveley said.
Sanctuary on the Moon brings together leading international experts, including astrophysicists, paleontologists, cosmologists, historians, artists and engineers.
“We hope Sanctuary will be a ‘cosmic hello’ to our descendants, or perhaps to other intelligent life forms,” said Faiveley.
He added: “Most of the material is told through images, diagrams and data, a narrative mosaic of what humanity knows and creates.”
Saudi Arabia will represent the cultural voice of the Arab world, while also reflecting the Kingdom’s ancient heritage, including the rock art of Hima and the ancient city of Diriyah, as well as the cultural renaissance and innovation of Vision 2030.
The Sanctuary on the Moon’s time capsule will travel aboard mission CT-4, a container designed according to NASA’s space standards. It will land on the moon’s southern polar region, a site considered ideal for future inhabited bases by NASA.
The 24 sapphire discs will preserve examples of mathematics, culture, art, science and the complete human genome for the future. A section of the archive will be dedicated to UNESCO World Heritage sites, with eight located in Saudi Arabia.
By integrating Saudi culture into the lunar capsule, “Sanctuary” ensures that the Kingdom’s heritage will remain accessible for millennia, the statement added.
