ABSTRACT
Introduction ............................................................................................................ 781 Crash Landings on the Moon, Mars, and Venus .................................................... 782 Investigating Crash Remains .................................................................................. 785
Crash Mechanics ........................................................................................... 785 Orbital Decay ................................................................................................ 786 Orbital Decay on the Moon and Mars .......................................................... 788
Spacecraft Investigations on Earth and Other Planetary Surfaces ......................... 788 Role of Forensic Science ..............................................................................790
Spacecraft Crashes and Cultural Heritage .............................................................790 Question of Integrity ..................................................................................... 791
Accidents ................................................................................................................ 792 Orbital Decay ......................................................................................................... 793 Intentional Crashes ................................................................................................. 793 Classi cation of Crash Sites .................................................................................. 794 Conclusion: The Future .......................................................................................... 796 References .............................................................................................................. 796
In recent years, a small group of cultural heritage managers has begun to systematically consider not only the management of space heritage sites on Earth1,2,3 but also the future heritage management of objects in Earth’s orbit4,5 and sites in existence on other celestial bodies-but currently out of reach of human interference-such as the Moon6 and Mars.7 For this chapter, I will only be concerned with the management of tangible, human-created sites on the surfaces of planetary bodies.
