China and the US are in a race to Mars - with both nations due to land a rover on the Red Planet this month, and plans for future missions already in development.
This new space race , unlike the battle to the Moon between the US and Soviet Union, is likely to be a much more crowded field, including private firms and smaller nations - such as the United Arab Emirates who have a probe en-route to Mars now.
SpaceX founder Elon Musk reiterated in a recent interview that his aim is to land the first humans on Mars by 2026 - that is seven years earlier than NASA s earliest goal.
The One Small Step Act preserves the Apollo landing sites for posterity
Companies contracted with NASA must promise to steer clear of artifacts with historic or scientific value
The bill was introduced in 2019, 50 years after Apollo 11 first brought man to the moon
NASA s Artemis program is set to bring astronauts back to the moon in 2024
Who cares what happens to astronaut artifacts on the moon? All humans should. The US One Small Step Act is the first law enacted by any nation that recognizes the existence of human heritage in outer space.
Neil Armstrong s bootprint (and other lunar artifacts) are now protected by U S law astronomy.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from astronomy.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Astronaut Edwin Buzz Aldrin poses for a photo beside the U.S. flag that was placed on the moon. The lunar module is visible on the far left, as well as numerous footprints in the foreground. The goal of this new law is to protect all of these. NASA
It s hard to care about bootprints sunk in soil 238,900 miles (384,472 kilometers) away as humanity suffers the combined burden of an unforgiving virus and a political unease. But how humans treat those bootprints and the historic lunar landing sites upon which they are found will speak volumes about who we are and who we seek to become.