Would you visit a national park on the moon? Would it even be a physical possibility?
Two members of Congress like the idea. Reps. Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) have proposed legislation (H.R. 2617) that would establish a national historical park on the moon’s surface to commemorate the Apollo missions that landed there between 1969 and 1972.
The legislation says that it would protect the artifacts associated with these landings that are on the moon and also enhance the public’s understanding of the Apollo program and its legacy through preservation of these resources.
The legislation dictates that the Secretary of the Interior would be responsible for managing the park. Also, it directs NASA’s Administrator to do the following:
- Ensuring proper monitoring of the Apollo lunar landing sites;
- Manage access to the sites, including through coordination with other spacefaring nations and entities; and
- In conjunction with the Director of the Smithsonian Institution, ensure an accurate cataloguing of items in the Historical Park.
I suspect performing task #3 in particular would be quite a challenge.
The language in the bill even delineates how to handle donations for the park.
One thing not mentioned in the language of the bill is how, exactly, such a park might be physically constructed should it get signed into law. I also am left wondering how many annual visitors would go to the park (or how they would get there). Perhaps that would be left for NASA to figure out…
