Preserving Humanity’s Legacy on Griffin-1 Mission
NanoFiche documents Will Head to the Moon on Astrobotic’s Griffin-1
The next Astrobotic lander to travel to the Moon will carry a NanoFiche archive, known as GLPH (Galactic Library Preserve Humanity), to the lunar surface as part of Griffin Mission One (Griffin-1).
“Nano-inscribed as an easily decipherable, human readable format, GLPH represents a critical aspect of human civilization, carefully selected to ensure art, science, and history are preserved for future discovery.”
Bruce Ha, Stamper Technology
The mission will be delivering several payloads to the Moon, as well as a suite of NanoFiche documents designed to survive harsh lunar conditions for millions of years. The archive aims to safeguard humanity’s intellectual and artistic legacy against terrestrial risks, ensuring messages and cultural touchstones from this moment in time are preserved for generations to come. Griffin-1 is scheduled for launch via SpaceX’s Falcon Heavy rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, in late 2025.
At the core of this mission is a breakthrough in data permanence: NanoFiche, a nanoscale inscription technology capable of etching literature, art, and intellectual milestones onto a nickel medium impervious to aging and deterioration developed by Stamper Technology. This archival initiative is a microscopic library of human achievements, ensuring human history, scientific breakthroughs, and cultural achievements, remain accessible even beyond Earth. Like ancient glyphs chiseled into stone, the format adheres to the traditional human-readable writings that existed since the dawn of human written history, now into metal. The content is retrievable with only the aid of optics and light. No complex codecs or sophisticated readers are needed.
“NanoFiche’s technology is setting a new standard in permanent data storage, resistant to environmental degradation and digital obsolescence,” says Bruce Ha, CEO of Stamper Technology. “Nano-inscribed as an easily decipherable, human readable format, GLPH represents a critical aspect of human civilization, carefully selected to ensure art, science, and history are preserved for future discovery.”
GLPH will include contributions from Astrobotic’s data and document library, content from the reimagined Library of Alexandria, select archives from the Lunar Codex, historical documents and designs from the Rochester Institute of Technology for the Apollo program’s guidance computer enabling the first man to walk on the Moon, Meredith Willson’s Miracle on 34th Street the Musical, Long Now’s language codec to translate every language in the world, and more.
NanoFiche technology has been tested at the Hawai’i Space Exploration Analog and Simulation (HI-SEAS) facility, and is stable under thermal, mechanical, and radiation extremes. The medium is projected to endure on the Moon for millions of years, underscoring NanoFiche’s utility as a permanent data storage medium.
This mission also represents a key milestone for Astrobotic, whose lunar lander technology will transport and deploy GLPH to the Moon.
The mission’s archival component is powered by NanoFiche’s patented technology, which is engineered to withstand space radiation, extreme temperatures, and the test of time. NanoFiche ensures that what is sent to the Moon today will be readable for thousands of years to come.
“Griffin-1 is carrying a suite of incredible payloads like Astrobotic’s own CubeRover and Astrolab’s FLIP (FLEX Lunar Innovation Platform) rover. We’re pleased to have Nanofiche’s important archive aboard, which has the potential to be the long-term data archival solution of choice in terrestrial applications,” said John Thornton, Astrobotic’s founder and CEO. “Our collaboration will mean a further test of its capabilities in one of the most extreme environments imaginable, on the Moon.”
“Art has the power to evoke emotions and provoke thought, while science pushes the limits of what we know. Together, they create something greater,” said Bruce Ha, Founder of Stamper Technology (NanoFiche). “With NanoFiche’s innovation and Astrobotic’s vision, we are not just sending records to the Moon; we are creating a permanent, global-access archive that ensures humanity’s legacy is never lost.”
Portions of GLPH will be donated to a major institution, details to be announced, allowing the public to explore this cosmic archive firsthand. Submissions for personal messages or contributions to future lunar libraries are under consideration, with details forthcoming from Astrobotic and NanoFiche.