How long before this sort of thing about space isn’t ceremonial or a joke any more?
by admin on Tuesday, July 12th, 2011 | 4 Comments
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/8488783.stm
Will there eventually be a fence around the landing site? Guided tours with guides and souvenir stands?
Or even though we’ll get better at space travel, will it always be a little exotic, like when someone from urban California spends weekends doing wilderness camping in the Sierra mountains?
Although perhaps a better comparison would be the story I heard about how some of the base camps on the way up Everest are practically permanent little villages?
I figure in fifty years we’ll be at that stage on the moon, although it’s still up for dispute what language(s) the villagers will speak.
What do you think?
When we elect a president and members of Congress who work for us and not themselves, we may return to the greatness of being excellent in space exploration (by funding it instead of giving millions away in foreign aid to Muslim countries to rebuild/refurbish their mosques as is being done at present).
Under international law, whatever is jettisoned to make a vessel capable of continuing its voyage become the property of whoever finds it. If a ship has a problem at sea and has to jettison a container (full of whatever) in order to keep the ship afloat, then that “abandoned property” can be yours if you happen to find it… unless the place where you find it happens to be under a law that prevents this from happening.
This is what California is trying to do… and it is not well done. IF (a very big if) I happened to go to the Moon and picked up something from that site that was NOT intended to be left there for a specific purpose (for example a scientific package that is still monitoring something), then what I pick up is a jettisoned object, normally free for the taking.
IF (another big one) somebody else is aware that I did that then they can try to sue me in a California court.
Of course, I will simply never show up in court, given that California has no jurisdiction over me, unless I happen to be in California. And if thee case does make it to court, then someone would have to prove that I have committed some kind of an offense in a place or involving people or objects that were under California jurisdiction at the time.
Mind you, if traveling to the Moon does become common, I am not against the idea of putting up a fence around the site, along with means to allow guided visits so as to minimize damage to the site (look at what has happened to Stonehenge in the last century).
I don’t see how california has the right. yeah a few firms were involved. but i can’t see any one state, even texas, as being able to basically lay claim to it for what it amounts to.
Material and camps left by early explorers in Antarctica are similarly protected by law. These sites would otherwise be ransacked by tourists.