Does USA Own The Moon?

Ok so I'm not overly into all the moon topics I find them a little "out there" But the other day this question popped into my head. When explorers would discover new land in the old times they would stick there countrys flag there and it becomes a part of there territory. So does the same apply here? I think India will be landing on the moon next? So do they have to ask for permission to land or is the moon still free land so to speak. Anyone with any knowledge on the topic (and i know there is a few of you ) feel free to answer.

reply to post by MrRobarto


I mean, I guess since the U.S. supposedly landed on the moon first, can they (the U.S. government) claim to own it?

I do not think it is first come first serve. if that even makes sense....

Allegedly, the Outer Space Treaty addresses this very issue. Basically, it states that no single nation owns the moon, and that everything up there is property of humanity itself.

Of course, that is overly general, and perfect to contest, but that is beside the point.

Google "who owns the moon"
www.google.com...

Google "outer space treaty"
www.google.com...

CNN Article
www.cnn.com...

"At some point the world community needs to come together and draft some new convention or treaty," said Paul Dempsey, director of the Institute of Air and Space Law and McGill University in Montreal. "It is an open wound that needs to be healed."

Dempsey pointed out that at the time the U.N. drafted the Outer Space Treaty, there were only two spacefaring nations -- the U.S. and the Soviet Union. Now there are over a dozen. And many of them, including China, Russia, the U.S., India and Japan, want to go to the moon.

NASA, for example, recently announced plans to return by 2020, eventually building a permanent base on the lunar surface. The Russian space agency, Roskosmos, has confirmed similar intentions.

The burgeoning commercial space sector is also casting its gaze towards Earth's only natural satellite with companies considering everything from mining the lunar surface to building extraterrestrial resorts on it.

"It is quite a complicated issue because it is international law we are dealing with," said Niklas Hedman, chief of the Committee Services and Research Section of the U.N.'s Office for Outer Space Affairs in Vienna.

There are five treaties that govern international affairs in space, said Hedman. Two of them -- the Outerspace Treaty and the 1979 Moon Agreement -- deal with lunar law.

The Outer Space Treaty provides a legal framework for the international use of space for peaceful purposes, including the moon and other celestial bodies. Widely considered the "Magna Carta of space law," this treaty lays down the fundamental principle of non-appropriation and that the exploration and use of space shall be the province of all mankind.

According to the treaty, states bear international responsibility for national activities in space, including by non-governmental entities. The Outer Space Treaty says governments cannot claim ownership of the lunar surface and that stations and installations on the moon shall be open to others, said Hedman.

The Moon Agreement builds upon the Outer Space Treaty but also says that any natural resources found on the moon are part of "the common heritage of mankind" - in other words, they must be shared.

The Outer Space Treaty
www.state.gov...

Article IX

In the exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, States Parties to the Treaty shall be guided by the principle of co-operation and mutual assistance and shall conduct all their activities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, with due regard to the corresponding interests of all other States Parties to the Treaty. States Parties to the Treaty shall pursue studies of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, and conduct exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter and, where necessary, shall adopt appropriate measures for this purpose. If a State Party to the Treaty has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by it or its nationals in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities of other States Parties in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, it shall undertake appropriate international consultations before proceeding with any such activity or experiment. A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation concerning the activity or experiment.

[edit on 11/24/2008 by prototism]

India is planning a mission to Moon in 2015. They recently sent a lunar orbitor to the moon and India and Russia are planning to send a rover to the Moon aka Mars rover, to the Moon in 2012.

The way I see it is that US, Russia, China and India will be competing for the Moon in the next decade, not to mention Japan.

It is interesting to note the the Chandrayan (india) that is now in the Moon's orbit, has 2 NASA instruments on board.

I think cooperation is the way to go, expecially if we are thinking of colonizing the Moon and using it as a base to go to Mars.

there aren't enough laws governing lunar real estate. now assuming there aren't already civilizations up there, other than current human civs, the loopholes for ownership of lunar acreage is very floppy. a smart lawyer can bend that all over the place. one group, composed of a nasa scientist, a man who owns a company that makes stealth and camo tech for the government and some other guy, bought the lunar mineral rights.

here's an article on it:
Lunar Mineral Rights secured by Dr. Joseph Resnick, Lt. Col. Timothy R. O'Neill, Ph.D. (U.S. Army, Ret.) and Guy Cramer
www.specintel.com...

As usual, theres two types of ownership issues here: private and public.

The Outer Space Treaty only addresses ownership on the State level, and doesn't even address ownership on the private sector level.

But if no one country can own it (the moon and/or parts thereof), and Earth based private property in the US is technically on US soil, and "owned" by private parties, one can make the argument that private property on the moon would not be on any country's soil, and therefore, unbound by any laws and regulations.

If there are no laws and regulations, who is the mediator in property disputes? If there is no mediator, are any claims of private ownership therefore invalid?

[edit on 11/24/2008 by prototism]

Actually I own a bit of the moon.

I got this pack from the science museum that comes with a certificate and everything...

protoism is absolutely right here, the Outer Space Treaty prohibits ownership of celestial bodies on state level.

But I have no idea what happens if a country doesn't accept the treaty and colonizes the moon. I think this would lead to war, if it couldn't be solved in diplomacy.

Until just now I thought you can buy stars, I knew that such contracts have no legal base, but thought it is possible. But actually, you can only register stars, ex $39,95 with free shipping inside the US.

I think this treaty will become practically void once the first nations have the capability to build bases and establish a regular traffic from/to moon. Just wait. Think of this treaty like a law to prohibit colonization if ships weren't available yet.

You can bet this treaty will become revised then, and nations will demand the right to own territories up there....

Does USA own the moon? No. Although it probably likes to think it does. It seems that Copernicus was only half right. The earth isn't the centre of the universe; it's the USA. Apparently.

Ahh good post prototism. When I read your first post I thought well then that cleared that up, but then when some new questions were asked I am now even more interested to see what will happen then I was before

No one owns the moon and it's a perfect example of why the Us govt is completely inept.

The reality is, something is owned in the end by who occupies it and we were there first and in the 60's and had the technology to do so.

So, we just decided, to let 40 years go by allowing other countries to catch up with us, rather than occupy it.

Brilliant Move, the moon is only worth urrrrmmmm

A FEW QUADRILLION BUCKS

But hey, who needs the Moon when you have such an edge, We got Iraq instead

(I laugh but if you really think about these choices you could cry)

Russia actually landed craft on the moon before the USA. So, Russia would have the strongest claim given the thought process of first discovery or first planting of flag. Luna 2 was launched in 1959, 3 years before the USA had the same result.

Now for reality, as was well stated above, there are treaties in place to stop silly bickering or warfare over resources outside the earth.

Originally posted by Unlimitedpossibilities
reply to post by MrRobarto

 

I mean, I guess since the U.S. supposedly landed on the moon first, can they (the U.S. government) claim to own it?

I do not think it is first come first serve.

if that even makes sense....

tell that to the native americans

reply to post by Swatman


Yeah. Does the USA own the USA is a better question.

There are going to have to be more treaties IMO before anyone can be allowed to start ripping the place up.

In a recent thread I posed the question, will Mining the Moon effect the gravitational effects on the earth as well as the Moon, will the Tides change? will the Moon start to move away faster then the 3cm a year it does now? you cant remove billions of tons of a orbiting body makeing it lighter, and expect it to remain the same, I don't even think anyone has ever asked this question, and it is valid, so far nobody has answered the question, not even NASA, I e-mailed several people about this, including an Astrogeologists, and Nasa employees, I even used the ask Nasa a question website, not one single person could answer with certainty.

As for who owns the moon, nobody owns the Moon, like I believe nobody owns the Earth or part of it, we only occupy it, with protection under present laws, as one poster said, ask the Native Americans, extend that to every indigenous people's and the answer is always the same, and one day IMO everything will be put back the way it was, and the way it was meant to be.

IMO the Moon should be made the Worlds first International reserve, protected for all Mankind, and indeed all life on our little World, and Mankind should pull it's head in, I just hope there are beings out there who will stop our nonsense once and for all, before we destroy everything, and not just here on Earth.

In some Faiths, the Moon is a symbolism of their creator, I doubt they are going to quietly allow its rape, it's about time we stopped thinking of what it's worth, and more about what part it has always played in the creation of life on the Earth, when it's gone so shall we be. GONE.

If USA owns the Moon, the russians owns the space

Originally posted by Swatman

Originally posted by Unlimitedpossibilities
reply to post by MrRobarto

 

I mean, I guess since the U.S. supposedly landed on the moon first, can they (the U.S. government) claim to own it?

I do not think it is first come first serve.

if that even makes sense....

tell that to the native americans

Good point.

I guess the 'first come then own it' does not really exist.

Originally posted by MrRobarto
Does USA Own The Moon?

The aliens own the moon. They just let us camp out a few times in one little area of it. If the USA owned the moon, we would have gone back many times. Obviously the little grey critters with the strange eyes really own it.

Don't know about the bright side, but the dark side of the moon belongs to Pink Floyd.

Seriously though, we should leave our moon alone. It is proven that it affects our Earth, so why meddle in this natural affairs. Why is nobody protesting about this? Oh yeah, we won't move a finger until something bad happens. Humanity really, really needs something bad to happen to it, so that it can finally wake up.

And no, USA doesn't own the own. In fact, as things stand now USA will have to deal with other, much more perilous issues than colonizing the moon...

[edit on 26-11-2008 by Krisclin]

Apparently its hollow and filled with an advanced civilisation hell bent on enslaving earth if other topics have it right. I say blow it up its a pain in the arse and spoils our view