Lawmaker wants US to put claim on Moon landing site

New Delhi, July 13: US is known for its National Parks, it has 59 in all, and now the 60th National Park has been proposed on Moon.

The crazy idea of having a National Park on Moon was proposed by US lawmaker Donna Edwards.

Edwards, a member of House of Representatives, wants the House to adopt Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, which would direct the government to designate the landing site and the artifacts left behind by astronauts on the moon as a national park.

Her contention - since space exploration has become a private enterprise - US should make sure that the site of the Apollo 11 landing remains a protected site. Edwards is a member of the House Subcommittee on Space, which oversees NASA.

Edwards spoke of wanting to protect the lunar surface from potential interference from commercial interest that may some day touch down.

"In 1969, led by the late Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong, American ingenuity changed history as humanity took a giant leap forward on the surface of the moon," Edwards was quoted on the House floor.

"That history, as preserved on the lunar surface, is now in danger, as spacefaring commercial entities and foreign nations begin to achieve the technical capabilities necessary to land spacecraft on the surface of the moon," she said.

Since on July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 made its historic landing, astronauts have deposited flags, a memorial to fallen comrades in both the US and Soviet space programs, and golf balls. The NASA sent six manned missions to the moon between 1969 and 1972.

Moon fascination is not new among the US politicians. Former House Speaker and a presidential hopeful last year, Newt Gingrich, had suggested that the moon could some day become a state of US.

OneIndia News