by Carol Shield

I had read the recent article released by the Hindu times concerning the NASA Moon Forbidden Fly Zones. I happened to be visiting with a NASA insider who participated in the NASA space programs for many years and involved with the Apollo Missions. He asked if I had any questions about the Apollo missions.  I asked him the question if the NASA No Fly zones were real or just internet hype. I was ready for a standard NASA official answer  "don't believe  those crazy internet conspiracy nuts." I was shocked that he told me it was true.

I explained I had read that India, China, and Japan had made thousands of flybys by satellites dating back in 2007. NASA did not announce these Forbidden zones on the moon then at least not to the public. He told me that NASA is not just a civilian operation. They did military operations for the US government too. I deduced from his statement that it is the military who doesn't want China and India to fly by the Apollo sites. The military usually doesn't issue warnings unless they have the means to stop these satellites and rovers. NASA doesn't say what will happen if these other countries violate these Forbidden Zones. It would be a bluff if they couldn't. I have never known the US military to bluff. China's space agency is like NASA . It is both civilian and military orientated. He told me that India and China will have their rovers on the moon soon. China's space program had the money to send men to the moon. It wasn't the same with NASA their budget was being cut.

It seems NASA or the Military believes that they own property on the moon. The historic landing sights of the Apollo Missions are the Forbidden zones for other countries. They want the area preserved. It seems even the bacteria left by the astronauts are private property.

1967 Outer Space Treaty makes it clear that the lunar surface has no owner. The restrictions added is the astronauts food left which bacteria may have mutated on the moon is included off limits to the other countries. Google has played a part due to promoting a contest where a rover returns with images of the Apollo landing sites receives a monetary award.

“Apollo 11 and 17 sites [will] remain off-limits, with ground-travel buffers of 75 metres and 225 metres from each respective lunar lander,” states the July 20 guidelines of NASA. Science journal had obtained the guidelines. {1}

The NASA insider said the Forbidden Zones came from the military side of NASA. One of the parts of the Treaty 1967 was that no military bases, or atomic weaponry to be placed on the moon. It has been noted this leaves out the possibility of ballistic missiles. One wonders if the moon has been militarized or is it just protection of historic sites of the US space program. Time will tell if the other countries will abide by the wishes of NASA. If they don't does the military have the means for retaliation. China made a example of shooting down one of their own satellites of which US military demonstrated they could shoot down theirs too. Are we seeing the beginnings of Star Wars in the making. it seems America still wishes to keep the Apollo sights not published by other countries. It had no trouble broadcasting the site to the world but now it gets shy for some reason. It is suspicious to say the least.

The Moon Forbidden Zones were not announced in 2007 when Japan, China, and India launched their lunar satellites. What has changed their tune. I can only suspect the rovers who will be able to have a closer look to the historical sights. Did America violate the 1967 Treaty in some way? I can only speculate that the Forbidden Zones contain a secret of which the military does not want the public or world to see. It was a proud day when the US astronauts landed on the Moon. It would be interesting to see the landing sights and how well they held up for all these years. It seems the Forbidden Zones are being placed so the world can not see what America left on the moon. One wonders who owns the Moon? Who has the right to keep other countries from flying or observing the historical Apollo sights. What's the big military secret?

source

http://www.thehindu.com/sci-tech/science/article2432999.ece