O.K., I guess I'm rather dim. Could someone explain to me why a company would need anyone's permission to explore the Moon? Since when did the U.S. government have a propriatary interest in the Moon?

Edited by author 09-11-2002 03:58 AM
Blame Article 6 of the Outer Space Treaty of 1967:

States Parties to the Treaty shall bear international responsibility for national activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, whether such activities are carried on by governmental agencies or by non-governmental entities...

It also says:

Outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, is not subject to national appropriation by claim of sovereignty, by means of use or occupation, or by any other means.

...meaning America can never have a Martian state. (Unless we withdraw from the treaty.) Fun stuff.

More people for the kooks to follow around.

Hmm. Correction needed, Cory. The probe itself isn't a lander -- all the data will be acquired by a LLO sattellite. It will chuck a capsule onto the surface, filled with memorabilia, but there won't be any data from it, so calling it a "landing" is pushing it.

It's still cool

Gosh, what president would be foolish enough to pull out of a treaty like that?

I asked about this on another board and found out that the treaty was never ratified. Carter signed it but it never made it through congress.

They thought that firing off a bigass rocket was what needed approval but this rocket is being fired in Russia so I just don't know.

I'm trying to imagine what the U.S. would do if someone landed on the moon without permission. Send a shuttle to give them a ticket for trespassing when they returned?

Pat: You're thinking of the Moon Treaty of 1979. The US didn't ratify the '79 treaty because it prohibited not just sovereignty, but property rights as well. But the '67 treaty still stands. I assume TransOrbital needs US approval because it's a California corporation.

The whole concept of space law is pretty wacky, though..

Enforcing lunar treaties, we can do -- the Moon can't support itself very well. Surface temps are scorching, water is nearly impossible to find, there's no atmosphere to speak of, there's a lack of important metals, and the nights are two weeks long. Lunar industry and colonists will probably always need help from Earth just to stay alive.

But not Mars. Mars has water, soil, sunlight, 25 hour days, and summer daytime temps that reach almost 70 degrees Fahrenheit. It's also about 3 months away from Earth. If Martian colonists think this whole "no sovereignty" deal sucks, and want to claim their planet as their own, how will we puny Earthlings stop them? By banging a gavel 60 million miles away? Pshaw.

Sigh. I wanna go to Mars. (Bonus Martian sunset for other Mars wannagos out there.)

Thanks, Dan, that's really interesting. Me too, re; Mars. To eat dinner under a mauve sunset!