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Who owns the moon? shouldn't there be an international concertation to grant such infrastructure contracts? The question will arise when China will want its ro

Who owns the moon? shouldn't there be an international concertation to grant such infrastructure contracts? The question will arise when China will want its roads too Who will be there first? First to land, first to build, rights to own?

twawaaay 4y ago
Good question. Technically, nobody, due to Outer Space Treaty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty). In practice, the only reason the treaty is still up is because it is not very practical to go to terrestrial wars over possession of a piece of Moon surface or an asteroid while you have no realistic method of making any use of it. It is likely one of the powers will withdraw from the treaty when they are finally ready to take possession of a significant asset in space and the benefits outweigh the risk of terrestrial war. And then other countries will do pretty much the same not to get behind.
- Kukumber 4y ago
  NASA puts the west in a very bad position, India will want its roads too unless they'll be forced to do like ESA/CSA/JAXA and become just an equipment supplier for NASA How can you negotiate to prevent other organization to go solo and claim ownership, if you yourself go solo? We are headed for a big mess, thanks to Greed, that guy is omnipresent nowadays China is prepared, they know how to build autonomous space stations, they replaced the ISS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station
  - dotnet00 4y ago
    Describing ESA/CSA/JAXA as 'just an equipment supplier for NASA' is exactly the issue you're attributing to the West. They aren't prevented from developing their own crewed spaceflight capability. They aren't even prevented from working with China (ESA has experiments on Tiangong for instance). They just find it more effective to put aside greed to work closely with NASA. It is well understood that the only reasons ESA and JAXA in particular don't have crewed spacecraft is a lack of need, as both are clearly capable of developing reliable rockets and having supplied modules for the ISS are also clearly capable of designing spacecraft that can keep humans alive. If India wants its Lunar infrastructure in the hypothetical case where the West somehow has already fully colonized it before India has had a chance to establish and maintain its own colony, perhaps India too should put aside its greed and seek to work through things via mutual cooperation?
- bryanlarsen 4y ago
  The Outer Space Treaty has provisions for non-interference of science. So if you set up a lab on the surface of the moon, nobody is allowed to interfere with it. Non-interference implies a keep-out zone around the lab. So while it's not ownership, it has many of the same benefits and properties.

twawaaay 4y ago

Good question. Technically, nobody, due to Outer Space Treaty (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outer_Space_Treaty). In practice, the only reason the treaty is still up is because it is not very practical to go to terrestrial wars over possession of a piece of Moon surface or an asteroid while you have no realistic method of making any use of it. It is likely one of the powers will withdraw from the treaty when they are finally ready to take possession of a significant asset in space and the benefits outweigh the risk of terrestrial war. And then other countries will do pretty much the same not to get behind.

Kukumber 4y ago
NASA puts the west in a very bad position, India will want its roads too unless they'll be forced to do like ESA/CSA/JAXA and become just an equipment supplier for NASA How can you negotiate to prevent other organization to go solo and claim ownership, if you yourself go solo? We are headed for a big mess, thanks to Greed, that guy is omnipresent nowadays China is prepared, they know how to build autonomous space stations, they replaced the ISS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tiangong_space_station
- dotnet00 4y ago
  Describing ESA/CSA/JAXA as 'just an equipment supplier for NASA' is exactly the issue you're attributing to the West. They aren't prevented from developing their own crewed spaceflight capability. They aren't even prevented from working with China (ESA has experiments on Tiangong for instance). They just find it more effective to put aside greed to work closely with NASA. It is well understood that the only reasons ESA and JAXA in particular don't have crewed spacecraft is a lack of need, as both are clearly capable of developing reliable rockets and having supplied modules for the ISS are also clearly capable of designing spacecraft that can keep humans alive. If India wants its Lunar infrastructure in the hypothetical case where the West somehow has already fully colonized it before India has had a chance to establish and maintain its own colony, perhaps India too should put aside its greed and seek to work through things via mutual cooperation?
bryanlarsen 4y ago
The Outer Space Treaty has provisions for non-interference of science. So if you set up a lab on the surface of the moon, nobody is allowed to interfere with it. Non-interference implies a keep-out zone around the lab. So while it's not ownership, it has many of the same benefits and properties.