NPR

How Do You Preserve History On The Moon?

As the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 lunar landing nears, some say the site of the first footprints on the moon should be protected. But historic preservation off our planet is unprecedented.
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin walks on the moon during the Apollo 11 mission in 1969. The landing site at Tranquility Base has remained mostly untouched — though that could change as more nations and even commercial companies start to explore the moon.

Historic preservationists are hoping that the upcoming 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing this summer will persuade the United Nations to do something to protect Neil Armstrong's footprints in the lunar dust.

Some of his boot marks are still up there, after all, along with other precious artifacts from humanity's first steps on another world. Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin left behind tools and science equipment, a plaque that read, "We came in peace for all mankind," and the U.S. flag, which has likely been bleached white by five decades of harsh ultraviolet light.

Other than a dusting of lunar soil or the random micrometeorite impact, Tranquility Base has been an untouched time capsule since the astronauts departed — though that could change as more nations and even commercial companies start to explore the moon.

"There has never been historic preservation off our planet. It's a really difficult subject," says , a law professor and space law expert at the University of Mississippi who co-founded , a nonprofit group devoted to

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