Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, H.R. 2617

This post Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, H.R. 2617 originally appeared on Truth About Bills

The Bill: H.R. 2617, the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act

Annualized Cost: Unknown

Between 1969 and 1972, American astronauts traveled to the Moon to both win the Space Race and study the geology of the Earth’s closest neighbor. The footprints and equipment left by the six successful missions will likely stay exactly as they were left for thousands of years to come. According to a treaty signed by over 100 nations during the Space Race, the Moon cannot be claimed in parts or whole by any nation but, that any launched object on the surface remains the property of the home country.

Introduced by Congresswoman Donna Edwards (D-MD) and Congresswoman Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX), the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act would establish a national historical parkland at each of the six landing sites and also the site where instruments from the aborted Apollo 13 mission fell to the surface. If enacted, the Department of the Interior would be required to carry out a management plan to ensure the proper monitoring of the areas. Interior would also be required to work with the Smithsonian Institution to catalog items in the new National Historical Park. Additionally, the government would have to coordinate with other spacefaring nations and private companies to manage site access.

H.R. 2617 would possibly require new federal spending to accomplish the administrative goals set out in the text, however, a cost estimate is currently not available. Similar to other historical sites, officials would be required to provide public access to and directly manage the sites. In the unlikely event that such activities would require a permanent human presence on the Moon, the cost of one lunar base could cost $4 billion annually, according to research NTUF compiled for Newt Gingrich’s new space policy during the 2012 GOP Primaries. It is also unclear what the locality pay rate would be for any new “astro-rangers”.

This article originally appeared in the National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s Taxpayer’s Tab weekly newsletter, The Taxpayer’s Tab, on July 11, 2013. The Foundation’s BillTally project scores the potential spending of every introduced bill in Congress.

This post Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act, H.R. 2617 originally appeared on Truth About Bills