Man on the moon. Astronaut John Young from Apollo 16 salutes the flag
Have you ever looked up at a full moon and wondered, "Gee, that would make a great park?" Seriously.
Because two US members of congress have introduced a bill, H.R. 2617, to do just that - create a park on the moon. It's called the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act.
They're not asking to make all 2,159 miles of the moon's diameter a national park. Just the six places where we landed.
Sounds like sheer lunacy doesn't it? But there is some solid logic behind the proposed legislation. Sometime in the near future, there is a very high likelihood that a citizen of another country will step foot on Earth's celestial sister.
China already landed a roving research vehicle on the moon. Russia has always been a staunch rival of the US in outer space, as well as a partner with Skylab and other projects. It is conceivable at some point they will also land a Russian cosmonaut on the moon. Japan's been thinking about it as well.
Then you have all the commercial companies interested in space. Perhaps Elon Musk's SpaceX will stop there one day. Or, you'll be flying with Richard Branson on Virgin Lunar to a five-star hotel on the moon. (While the views are spectacular, alas, there is no pool. The water would float out).
What US Representatives Donna Edwards (D-Md) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Texas) want to do is attempt to preserve the site where Americans first set foot on the moon as part of the Apollo missions. The flag is still there. So are the golf balls hit by Apollo 14 commander Alan Shepard in 1971. There's also a memorial to fallen astronauts and cosmonauts left by Apollo 15.
"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 said. "That history, as preserved on the lunar surface, is now in danger, as space faring commercial entities and foreign nations begin to achieve the technical capabilities necessary to land spacecraft on the surface of the moon."
"The Apollo lunar program was one of the greatest achievements in American history," states the legislation. "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."
Now, when you do look in the sky at night, you notice there is a whole lot of moon up there. Hundreds of thousands of craters. Lots of dust and rocks. Certainly, there is plenty of room for other nations to set up a park.
However, remember, that spot was selected by NASA for a reason. It's an ideal location for a landing. Also, remember, there's also the dark side of the moon to consider (not the Pink Floyd album). Nobody's going to want to land or camp out there, at least not in the beginning. As lunar real estate gets gobbled up, we're sure that side will as well (at least it won't be hot).
What would the moon park look like?
In their proposal, Edwards and Johnson said the lunar landing site should come under the joint control of the Department of the Interior (which oversees the National Park Service) and NASA. Good idea. The NPS does an incredible job managing hundreds of thousands of miles of parkland on Earth, they are probably best equipped to do the same in space. (Difficult to drive to the location however. That's why they will need some assistance from NASA.).
If you create a park, naturally people are going to want to visit it. How are you going to build a structure up there? What are you going to use for park equipment and park furnishings? What sort of trails should be marked? Will they serve anything else besides moon pies for dinner?
Think of the park activities you could conduct up there. With about 85% less gravity, it could be quite a bit of fun. Toss a football over a mile. Jump ten feet at a time. Climb on the monkey bars and then launch yourself into orbit.
If you think managing a bunch of youngsters around a picnic table at a park is difficult, imagine if they all had virtual springs in their feet? They would be bouncing around the atmosphere like ping pong balls.
There is also a legal question involved. About 50 years ago, the US and a bunch of countries signed the Outer Space Treaty of 1967, all agreeing that no one country could claim sovereignty over the moon or any other property beyond the Earth's atmosphere.
Again, if you look up in the sky, with the billions of stars, planets and moons, there certainly is plenty of land up there for everyone. But naturally, they are all going to want the same location.
Plus, it's not like the US wants the whole moon, just a tiny sliver.
At this point in time a discussion about creating a park on the moon might seem absurd. But remember, so did the idea of landing a human on the moon back in 1961. That was when President John Kennedy offered this challenge to an eager nation.
We did it. It certainly is a historic site. Might as well preserve it as a park. Because you and I both know, someday in the future, that little patch of the moon will be surrounded by Starbucks, McDonalds, Shell stations, Marriotts, Holiday Inns and various guide services.
Work is actually underway to restore the original and historic NASA Mission Control center in Houston, Texas. That center is considered a National Historic Landmark and was the place where more than 40 missions were managed. The public can now view the original consoles, used for such missions as the Apollo 11 moon landing and the famously dangerous Apollo 13 flight. (That mission nearly became a disaster but the astronauts were rescued and the story was later made into a Ron Howard movie.)
During national Park and Recreation month, we celebrate all the incredible national, state and local parks here in America, which are the envy of many other nations and the pride of our citizens. Might as well include a park on the moon.
Let the National Park Service preserve that moment in history.
To read a Time magazine article on the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, click here.
Here's an article that appeared in the Baltimore Sun.