Location Of Next National Park: The Moon?

Despite the fact that no human has set foot on the moon in over 40 years, Congress is worried that the sanctity of the Apollo landing sites is on the cusp of being compromised. So on Monday, worried legislators Rep. Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Rep. Eddie Bernice (D-TX) introduced the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act. The bill calls for the establishment of the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites National Historic Park, which will be a unit of the National Parks System.

According to the bill, the national park would comprise all locations where Apollo missions touched the surface of the moon between 1969 and 1972. This includes the site where part of the ill-fated Apollo 13 mission’s rocket impacted the lunar surface.

The bill outlines the current threats to the historic landing sites, which include increased extraterrestrial activity by commercial enterprises and foreign nations. The sites’ preservation will fall under the mandate of the Secretary of the Interior, who will coordinate with spacefaring entities to manage access to the site.

Finally, the bill also calls for appropriate bodies to submit the landing sites to UNESCO for designation as a World Heritage Site.