Tokyo, Japan

What will happen to the many languages around the world if humans cease to exist tomorrow? Quite predictably, our languages and their cultural value will also be wiped off the face of this planet. But what about another planet? Maybe we can preserve our linguistic treasures elsewhere in space.

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The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) is teaming up with a Japanese lunar exploration company to do just that.

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Languages, other worlds and the end of humanity

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As per Space.com, Japanese lunar exploration firm ispace is working to put human presence into space and on the moon. In collaboration with UNESCO, the company is planning to send to the lunar surface an important part of humanity: 275 languages and other cultural artefacts.

If you're wondering how this will happen, the answer is 'Memory Disk'.

Similar to the time capsules many of us remember preserving our memories in, the two organisations will send the languages and artefacts to the moon aboard ispace's upcoming Hakuto-R Mission 2.

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Hakuto-R Mission 2

The upcoming Hakuto-R Mission 2 will send a robotic lander to the surface of the Moon. It will also deliver to Earth's natural satellite a memory disk that seeks to keep humanity alive in case something threatens humanity's existence on our planet.

"UNESCO is committed to preserving the linguistic diversity that represents human cultures from any crisis that threatens their destruction in the future, and preservation on the lunar surface is one means to preserve cultures," says ispace in a release posted on its website. 

To fulfil this mission, the memory disk will contain the UNESCO Constitution's Preamble, which expresses "the importance of preserving world unity, linguistic diversity, and cultures". This preamble will be translated into 275 languages.

Hakuto-R Mission 2 is slated to be sent to the Moon sometime in 2024. However, this is only true if the current timelines hold. 

(With inputs from agencies)