Would you like to buy some real estate on Mars or the Moon?
No, this would not be the equivalent of buying the Brooklyn Bridge, at least according to a review of legal precedents and treaties published in the Journal of Air Law and Commerce (.pdf). The authors, Alan Wasser and Douglas Jobe of the Space Settlement Institute, conclude that the international Outer Space Treaty prohibits nations from claiming sovereignty over the Moon or Mars, it does not preclude private land claims, and they point to legal precedents establishing the necessary condition for anyone making a land claim: living there.
Max Q Member
Posts: 399 From: Whyalla South Australia Registered: Mar 2007
posted 08-31-2008 02:30 AM
So if a nation say the United States or China were to set up a permanently manned base they would own it?