By Kalpna Singh-Chitnis
My literary journey that began with “Chand Ka Paivand” (Patch of Moon), my first collection of poems I wrote in my teenage years, published in 1985, will be literally bound for the moon someday—with my poetry and film on two distinct moon missions—who would have thought? Check out the full story in the New York Times published on July 27th, 2023.
Credit for this Himalayan task goes to Dr. Samuel Peralta, the pioneering spirit behind the Lunar Codex. One might wonder, what is this Lunar Codex? To some, it signifies a “Time Machine to the Future.” Others have lauded it as the “ultimate anthology of art and literature,” even comparing it to a “Museum on the Moon.” In its very essence, the Lunar Codex is a set of time capsules, a message-in-a-bottle for future generations.
This cosmic time capsule will transport four of my poems from “Bare Soul,” along with my poetry film “River of Songs,” to the lunar surface on two distinct NASA missions.
The poems included in the “Nova collection” of the Lunar Codex will launch in Oct-Nov 2023 to Malapert A Crater, Lunar South Pole, via SpaceX Falcon 9 / NASA CLPS-2 Mission Lander.
The poetry film “River of Songs” included in the Polaris Collection, of Lunar Codex will launch in November 2024 with the SpaceX Falcon Heavy / Astrobotic Griffin lander / NASA VIPER rover mission to the Lunar South Pole.
The Timeline of these missions can be viewed in the picture below.
I dreamed of going to the Moon, and one day it was possible. I’m sharing that dream with some of the artists, authors, musicians, and filmmakers whose work I love. Together we are the Artists on the Moon, and The Lunar Codex is the collection of works in our lunar time capsules. …It speaks to the idea that, despite wars, pandemics, and climate upheaval, humankind found time to dream, time to and create art. Our hope is that future travelers who find these time capsules will discover some of the richness of our world today… ~ Dr. Samuel Peralta, Lunar Codex
Ukrainian Art Bound to the Moon
The lunar mission is committed to taking expansive and hopeful messages to the Moon, worthy of archiving for generations. This is what inspired Dr. Peralta to meticulously select every piece of this dream project, which has now become a reality. It’s an honor and an achievement of a lifetime to be a part of the Lunar Codex missions. For the first time, poets, whose imaginations have been inspired by the moon since the dawn of time, will literally have their work represented on the Moon.
