Explanation: Bright sunlight glints and long dark shadows dramatize this image of the lunar surface taken by Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong, the first to walk on the Moon. Pictured is the mission's lunar module, the Eagle, and spacesuited lunar module pilot Buzz Aldrin unfurling a long sheet of foil also known as the Solar Wind Collector. Exposed facing the Sun, the foil trapped atoms streaming outward in the solar wind, ultimately catching a sample of material from the Sun itself. Along with moon rocks and lunar soil samples, the solar wind collector was returned for analysis in earthbound laboratories.

The US state of California has named the site where Apollo 11 mission landed on the Moon in 1969, the first US landing, one of the states historical resources. The strange but understandable effort by the California State Historical Resources Commission is aimed at protecting more than 100 items left by US astronauts on the lunar surface.

Some of the stuff they left behind include tools, a US flag, footprints, food bags and bags of human waste. I wonder if this is the first time human excrement has ever been declared a historical resource, but there it is in black and white for all to see. The commission said California firms had worked on the Apollo project and their efforts had a historical value to the state.

“It has a significance that goes way further than whether it came from a quarter million miles away or not,” state historic preservation officer Milford Wayne Donaldson was quoted as saying by the New York Times newspaper. “They are all parts of the event,” he said. The designation applies to everything left on the Moon by astronauts Neil Armstrong – the first man to walk on the Moon – and Buzz Aldrin, with a total weight of 5,000 lbs (2,270 kg). All the stuff they left behind was left there to make the blast off from the Moon’s surface easier for the return journey back to Earth. The moon’s surface is not included in the designation, because under international law no country or state can make a claim to it.

Several other US states which were involved in the Apollo project are also reportedly seeking to protect the landing site. I am not too sure how much weight these decelerations carry in the international community or how they will be enforced beyond being extremely angry in diplomatic documents should another nation like China for instance disturb the landing site in question when they manage to get to the moon. Would be interesting to see though. I do however think the folks who do go to the moon in the future will have respect for the site with or without California’s say so.