THE TRASH MAP
By Marte Teigen (NO)
In the late 1950s, the so-called ‘space race’ between the Soviet Union and USA began, and the number of space missions skyrocketed. During this period, these two Cold War rivals competed for dominance in spaceflight capability. The space race was not just about being the first nation to send a person to the moon; it was about showing technological superiority. The Trash Map is an infographic mapping of objects left on the moon from various space programmes between 1959 and 1972.
Some of these items crashed into the moon post-mission; some had a successful landing, and some, of course, crashed unintentionally. The Soviets and Americans left hundreds of items on the moon surface. We now have pieces of rockets, satellites, space cars and thousands of smaller items (like numerous bags of human waste) left up there. The Trash Mapdoesn't cover all these items, but maps the largest and most important pieces from the space race period.
BIO
Marte is a graphic designer living and working in Bergen, Norway.