> Possession is 11 tenths of the law. Thats the problem that the OST tries to address. If more than one party claims possession of a territory (say Mars) then

> Possession is 11 tenths of the law. Thats the problem that the OST tries to address. If more than one party claims possession of a territory (say Mars) then they can either settle things legally or with gunboats (err.. space battle cruisers). Given the absence of an off-Earth legal system to adjudicate, and with no compelling need to create one then or now, conflict would therefore be a likely outcome. So the OST just tries to defer the problem for a while. At some point, extraterrestrial territorial claims will need to be settled though.