Last week, the Google Lunar X Prize Foundation announced that it will recognize the guidelines NASA has established to protect historic sites on the moon.

 

For the 26 teams currently vying for prize, this means their attempts to land on and rove around the moon have to stay clear of the Apollo landing sites. After all, it’s not just technological relics that rest on the surface; there's a human record tied into those sites, too.

 

The Apollo landing zones are incredibly unique. On Earth, preserving an historic site usually comes with a multimillion dollar price tag to cover ongoing maintenance. But on the moon, where there’s no weather to wear theses sites away, preserving them is as simple as never going near them.

Neil Armstrong’s boot prints will never fade. There’s also science at those site that ought to be left alone; bacteria in fecal collection bags could be of interest to future biologists.