Does the U.S. own the moon?

Factual Questions
21

I didn’t even know there were any surface-to-space missiles or space-to-surface missiles. There are those ASAT weapons but I didn’t think they Peruvians had any.

22

I’ll bet you didn’t know about Peru’s nuclear capabilities, either. Sneaky bunch, those Peruvians…

Modest? You bet I’m modest! I am the queen of modesty!

23

I don’t think the Peruvians (doesn’t that sound like the name of an alien race!) actually threatened military action against anyone. But they and some other nations on the equator tried to claim in the UN that they owned the geosynchronous space above their territories. Basicly they got laughed at, since none of the claimant nations even have a space program. More “might makes right”, I suppose.

Although in that science fiction story about owning the moon, the corporation in question did get all the nations that are ever directly under the moon to sign away their rights for some token fee, which no one took seriously untill they landed on the moon and claimed it as private property.

Here’s a thought: how big does a rock have to be before it’s “territory”, rather than an object? You might be able to claim full ownership of a 1-km asteroid. But 10 km? 100 km? If you want to move Phobos out of it’s orbit, will the Interplanetary Monument Society sue you?

24

Shouldn’t Boris have linked this URL:

http://www.asi.org/adb/03/05/moon-treaty.html

But I don’t see an signatures at all on either of those “treaties”. And who would believe that Republican Senators ever ratified either one? And when did the US every honor one of its treaties? And, as a member of Sierra Club, I think all duffers should pack their Earthern golf courses and head off into space, letting us turn their turf over to Nature again. Nature doesn’t sign treaties; it just grows on top of things, sometimes even nurture.

Ray (And if it doesn’t have a BART station, I ain’t goin’ there, no matter who owns it or how cheap the liquor there is.)

25

Garry/Lumpy

are you guys talking about the Heinlein short story of Harriman launching his own moon rocket?

26

Garry/Lumpy

are you guys talking about the Heinlein short story of Harriman launching his own moon rocket?

27

the moon has been sold over and over again, treaty or no treaty. as goes for march, venus
and all the other planets in the system.

for those who want a piece of land on the second moon of jupiter, email me :wink:

28

Isn’t that Io, the moon that’s so volcanic that the entire surface is repaved every couple of years? Sounds like the 21st century equivalent of the Florida real estate business.