The Next Frontier for Historic Preservation: The Moon

For most of the last decade Beth L. O'Leary, a professor of anthropology at New Mexico State University, and her students have been seeking formal protections for the artifacts remaining on the Moon from the Apollo 11 and Apollo 17 missions.

The States of California and New Mexico have now officially listed the areas as Historical Resources. More crucially, NASA recently joined the effort by issuing a series of recommendations to protect the landing sites and the remaining artifacts.

Unfortunately, those official actions have no legal force. To protect the items from future visitors, Robert Kelso, manager of lunar commercial services at NASA's Johnson Space Center in Houston, is "hoping that whether it's an international team or a commercial team, they would honor and recognize the value of these sites and honor these recommendations."