Lunar Landowners?

[rocketdad]

I'm curious what people here think about buying acreage on the moon. I've thought about it, but I keep spending my allowance on Estes motors so I can just go there myself.

I just need to scale this AlphaIII up 266 times....

[skinbath]

I was under the impression that the moon was under "Alien" ownership (see some of the other theories !) and so it would be a waste of money........as soon as you set foot on your property the "Aliens" would sue you for trespass.........the climate is lousy and the local facilities are practically non existent.......the views may make up for this somewhat,but well,I don`t know...........I did hear that Santa Claus exists there though

[LunarOrbit]

Print up your own ownership papers... they would be just as valid as anything you could pay money for.

[rocketdad]

admin said:

Print up your own ownership papers... they would be just as valid as anything you could pay money for.

I agree, and even I could photoshop up some nice maps and plans from recent imagery.

I'm just wondering if any of the people here think we SHOULD be able to stake claims. Obviously "intent to occupy" is sorta difficult to follow thru with, but here in the western US water law involves original claim rights sometimes dating back to original Spanish land claims.

[snakeriverrufus]

Isn't there a shrine post there now?

[LunarOrbit]

I don't think governments should claim ownership of the Moon (or planets). In fact I'm pretty sure the Outer Space Treaty of 1967 prohibits it.

Article I

The exploration and use of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be carried out for the benefit and in the interests of all countries, irrespective of their degree of economic or scientific development, and shall be the province of all mankind.

Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.

There shall be freedom of scientific investigation in outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and States shall facilitate and encourage international co-operation in such investigation.

Article II

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.

There is a loophole though... it only prohibits governments from claiming the Moon... it doesn't say corporations or individuals can't. But personally I think anyone claiming the property should at least have visited it first, and they should be able to defend their claims (ie. preventing other people from building homes on their land).

[rocketdad]

I'm pretty sure the Lunar Registry people are trying to work the loophole, from what I've read of the ideology (as opposed to the "send us money for some printing" part). Of course, declairing a "Lunar Republic" may invalidate their claims... but I think they expect the treaty to be tossed out as soon as somebody demonstrates something profitable.

[voyager3]

Hello everyone, this is my first post here, although I've been following the board for some time now.

If my reading of the posts in this thread is correct, is it possible that in the future a Bill Gates type figure could build his own spacecraft, land on the moon and claim it as private property? Also, in the book 2010, The Chinese land on and claim Europa, stating that they had not signed the 1967 treaty and were therefore not bound by it, is this still the case?

[JayUtah]

Making a private claim on the moon is indeed possible, but it can't necessarily be launched from any of the space treaty signatory nations. Because these nations are bound to obey the treaties, they reserve the right to license private space flights. You need a license from the U.S. State Department to conduct operations in lunar space.

[rocketdad]

Well, I tried to scale up an AlphaIII 266 times and SpaceCAD locked up, so I guess I'll just wait for the Space Bus.