Two house democrats have proposed the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act which aims to build a national historical park in the moon to preserve the Apollo landing sites.
Maryland Rep. Donna Edwards and Texas Rep. Bernice Johnson wrote the bill which will build the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites National Historical Park. Both are members of the House Science, Space, and Technology Committee.
The park which will be located on the surface of the moon will house all the artifacts from the Apollo 11 to 17 missions left by 12 astronauts who were part of the lunar missions between 1969 and 1972.
The bill proposed the preservation of the sites since the future of space tourism is very promising.
“As commercial enterprises and foreign nations acquire the ability to land on the Moon, it is necessary to protect the Apollo lunar landing sites for posterity," according to the text of the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, H.R. 2617.
Once the bill receives approval, the construction of the national park will start no later than a year after and would be managed by the Department of the Interior and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Both parties will need to decide the coverage of their responsibilities in maintaining the park as well as the accesses needed.
The government will generate funding for this project from companies and foreign countries. The funds will be used for the maintenance of the park and the different facilities that will be built near the park.
Edwards also proposed another bill prolonging NASA’s operation to three more years on Monday. The bill called H.R 2616 will provide the agency a budget of $18.1 billion for 2014 and may reach up to $18.9 on 2016. It also aims to push the project sending humans to Mars in partnership with the International Space Station through 2020.
