FIRST LUNAR OUTPOST TO BE NAMED: ARMSTRONG MOONBASE

Report from reuters:

photo: artist concept of the moonbase

The name of Apollo astronaut Neil Armstrong is etched into U.S. history books as the first human to walk on the moon, and it may be set for an encore.

A bill has been passed in the USA, which carries an interesting caveat. If passed into law, NASA apparently MUST name its first lunar outpost after Armstrong – the first human to set foot on another world during the Apollo 11 mission on july 20 1969.

NASA plans to return astronauts to the moon by 2020 under the agency’s Vision for Space Exploration, which includes completing construction of the International Space Station by 2010.

NASA has been looking for attractive lunar locales for a future moonbase, with one front-running contender being “shackleton crater near the moon’s south pole, where water ice may hide in the constant shadows.

Wonder if Armstrong would be there for ground breaking ceremony?