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tazzygirl -> RE: Walk through the tulips, on the moon! (7/14/2013 6:42:46 PM)
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Im still chuckling over the idea of tours to the moon. I do believe, in this economy, we have more imporatant needs than to spend 16.6 billion on a moon project.
http://www.opensecrets.org/news/2013/07/house-launches-bill-to-establish-na.html
It was former GOP House Speaker Newt Gingrich who dreamed of establishing a colony on the moon. But -- in the wake of sequester-induced cuts to national parks located here on Earth -- a new bill to establish a national park on the moon rocketed into the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology this week courtesy of two Democrats, Reps. Donna Edwards (D-Md.) and Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-Tex.).
Yes, the White House may be closed for public tours, and hundreds of millions of dollars has been slashed from the budget that keeps intra-planetary parks like Yosemite and Glacier fully operational. There's even a Craters of the Moon National Monument that could use some extra funding. Nevertheless, the Apollo Lunar Landing Legacy Act would declare the Apollo Lunar Landing Sites National Historical Park open next year! To keep the park in stellar condition, an administrator would “monitor” the upkeep of Apollo artifacts dating from 1969-1972, the heyday of the U.S.'s lunar landing missions. It would also ensure access to the site for humans from all “spacefaring nations.”
And to accomplish all that, the bill permits the use of NASA funds for establishing and operating the new park. The House proposed awarding $16.6 billion to NASA for the 2014 fiscal year on Tuesday. But that's not all: the bill also says that the Secretary of the Interior can accept donations from foreign governments, international organizations and individuals to provide visitor services and take care of the artifacts. We're envisioning a nice rest stop with a convenient spaceship filling station that sells Apollo 11 souvenir snow globes.
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