Who owns the moon? LiptonCambell: I know I made a recent thread in off topic about someone claiming the moon, but lets ignore that and talk strictly the legal, philosphical and scientific issue Who owns the moon? According to most governments, anything dealing with space is 'The Heritage of All Mankind', and there are treaties in existence that claim either COUNTRIES cannot own them, but say nothing on the fact of individuals or corporations(the vast majority of countries agreed with this), or that no one person cannot own them(only a handful of countries agreed with that) Whats your thought? Can anyone own the moon? Do I own the moon if I say so? Does the stance of space being the "Heritage of mankind" deter space exploration and travel? Should it be that way? LiptonCambell: We must own things for any real progress. Ownership leads to investment. A man will not spend 2 billion dollars to set up solar panels on the moon if they have no protection against someone else tearing down his construction and selling it for scrap. Ownership helps progress. The only people who have anything to gain from lack of ownership are thieves and mooches. Corwin: As it stands now, the moon property claims that are being made and sold online today hold no real legal standing. Without something called "intent to occupy", most real-estate claims regarding previously unclaimed territory are null and void. These "intent to occupy" collieries are established in most country's real-estate laws to prevent wonton claiming of new-found land. But when industry moves up there, such as Lipton's idea of a multi-billion dollar solar-array for instance, these investments will need to be legally protected, and the matter will have to be taken under serious consideration as to international treaty and legal claim. "Intent to occupy" will then be easy to prove and establish, and legal provisions will have to be made in the law-books. But I would hold off buying up that future vacation spot on the Sea of Tranquility just yet... until these laws of ownership are actually established and agreed upon by all nations or corporations of interest. And when the International Space Treaty of 1967 is ratified with these new changes... as it stands now, NOBODY can legally lay claim in part or in whole to a celestial body of any kind. And no land can be held by anybody unless laws are somehow enforced... which means there will have to be a military presence or authoritative and effective policing strategy in place to physically protect these claims with physical enforcement. Zanjan: You can have the moon. Let it be known to all mankind, I'm putting my prospector's stake on the planet of Saturn - the whole planet. Diamonds rain from its skies - this is actually true. Since I can't afford a trip there, even if the technology were available right now, I'm grandmothering it out to my descendants in my will. Back to reality: Earthly laws are only good on earth - earthlings can't make them for other celestial bodies, be they living or inanimate. We haven't inherited the universe so it's not OUR heritage to claim - we merely share our planet with other living beings, wanted or not. God wont give us the means to travel to habitable planets until we've rid of ourselves of arrogance and our over-inflated sense of entitlement. This is also true for any aliens - that means, they're not evil, slime-dripping lizards. (Edited by Zanjan) Zanjan: Back to the moon - it belongs to earth. Science says it was once part of it but that argument is moot. The moon is in earths orbit and the two bodies depend on each other. The moon could rightly be said to be earth's heritage. In that case, individuals will need our permission to land and do whatever up there. That's never been a problem in the past. As for the future, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. For now, pirates aren't a concern. chronology: The U.S. Declaration about the Moon being the common Heritage of all Mankind is an broad statement the U.S. issued to fend off any accusations of claiming the Moon. The Moon is under the regulation of Arms Control Agreements, and just about nothing els. If Space Activity on and around the Moon becomes more expanded then Regulation of the Moon will become necessary to protect the safety of Astronauts and Space Satellites. Right now if you could get there you could do what the heck you liked. But any Property claims are unlikely to be recognised by future Lawmakers. Corwin: I own the moon... I bought it off of JeffTheKiller0_0 last week. He was asking a gajillion bazillion dollars for it, but I talked him down to 500 Wire credits and the promise that I wouldn't sell it out to Sony for billboard advertising space. Captain Canada: On the dark side of the Moon,6 acres beach front,very secluded from from preying eyes for sale any offers? electrician25hr: In the early 60's NASA learned that Native Americans owned land on the moon. Thus its why they went there in 1969 to try steal that land too.... DEEP_acheleg: i believe that the first post was correct, regarding any NATIONAL claims of celestial sovereignty being invalid. if an investor chose to develop land on the moon, such a facility would be outside the jurisdiction of any nations protections, in which case, such an entrepreneur would have to protect such investments with private security. Corwin: My thousand-mile-wide Sony billboard that I'm setting up there in the Spring of 2019 will be under the protection of the local indigenous Moon inhabitants that my Space Ranger fleet have discovered there. These intelligent and friendly entities were mistaken by the Apollo astronauts to be ordinary Moon-rocks, and not surprising, as they are a lethargic species during the Lunar daytime and spend most of their existence just laying around, looking like rocks, and waiting out the long Lunar days until nightfall when they enjoy the coolness of the dark and throw dinner parties. Unlike the exploitation of the Native Americans in past centuries, these Moon-rock people are actually on board with this project 100%... they told Space Ranger Commandant Phil that they will enjoy the additional daytime shade that the billboard will provide, and it will increase their available party time by a rather large margin. As to ownership of the Moon itself, let's just say that I will enjoy a profitable and mutually beneficial business arrangement with the Moon-rock people (a co-ownership, if you will), and any Earth slob who will dispute this will have their brains melted by the Moon-rock people's telepathic/telekinetic mind-rays..... so there. electrician25hr: Corvin FYI the moon does not revolve unlike the earth and only one side of the moon is always facing the earth thus the saying'"The dark side of the moon"" You think Pink Floyd called their album the dark side...... for nothing?? Wuz yer mamma related to yer daddy OR wuz yer daddy related to yer momma??? lori100: What moon? -------....--------------wiki-----Albert Einstein is reported to have asked his fellow physicist and friend Niels Bohr, one of the founding fathers of quantum mechanics, whether he realistically believed that 'the moon does not exist if nobody is looking at it.' To this Bohr replied that however hard he (Einstein) may try, he would not be able to prove that it does, thus giving the entire riddle the status of a kind of an infallible conjecture—one that cannot be either proved or disproved. LiptonCambell: We've placed mirrors on the moon, and reflected laser back to us using them, to accurately judge the distance en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunar_Laser_Ranging_experiment#In_popular_culture This is something you can prve yourself. calybonos: Sounds expensive, and Laser tag was never my game anyway. Is there a link for Lunar Paintball? Corwin: @electrician25hr - You're a moron. The moon rotates once a month... as well as orbiting the Earth during the same period. How else do you think it can keep the same side facing the Earth? Have you ever looked up at the Moon and noticed that the shadow moves around the face of it every month? There is no side of the Moon that is permanently dark. Lunar "daytime" lasts for half a month, and Lunar "nighttime" lasts for the other half. Wuz yer mamma related to yer daddy OR wuz yer daddy related to yer momma??? (Edited by Corwin) Corwin: And is Lori still going on about things disappearing when we stop looking at them? Hey Lori... maybe the fridge light stays on too when you close the fridge door. Maybe the light only "really" goes out if you are inside of the fridge watching it when the door is closed.... why don't you give it a try? | Science Chat Room 2 People Chatting Similar Conversations |