Lunar Bureau of Weights and Measures

Presented at European Space Agency November 2019
Selected artist for Moon Gallery

1 cubic lune

This project is a proposal for a new organization on the moon, called the Lunar Bureau of Weights and Measures. Its goal is to establish the lune (abbreviated to ln), a base unit of distance which is more fitting to the lunar environment than existing terrestrial systems of measurement.

The earth meter was defined in the 18th century as one ten-millionth of the distance between the North Pole and the equator. The lune is defined using the same method, this time based on the moon's circumference. As such, a lune is calculated as 0.272720459655259 earth meters.

In Febuary 2021, a cubic centilune of sand will be sent to the moon. This volume of sand will act as a founding object of the Lunar Bureau as well as a benchmark for manufacturing new measurement equipment: rulers, tape measures, beakers, pipets, etc. For efficient conversion between meters and lunes, the sand grains will travel to the moon housed within a transparent 1cm acrylic cube.