Sunday 19 July 2009

EMPIRE

Who owns the moon?

2 comments:

rosy said...

Susan! I'm so glad you are back!
The other morning I had the radio on but, because I was getting ready for work, I was only half listening. But I believe I heard that no-one owns the Moon.
Did anyone else hear that? (It would have been on the Today programme). Did I imagine it?
A few years ago I seem to remember Tesco stores were selling plots of 'land' on the moon as Christmas presents! Did I imagine that as well? . . . someone, somewhere please h.e.l.p . . .

Susan Harwood said...

Rosie - I'm sorry I'm so intermittent nowadays.

I hadn't heard about Tesco but I have heard of land agents in America selling all sorts of bits of space. How did they come to own it in order to sell it?

What bothers me especially is that the first moon-landers planted a flag from the U.S.A. there. They were landing as 'Americans', not 'Humans' - and that leaves a lot of room for later conflict.

Given the efforts other countries have put into planting their flags on the ocean floor of the Arctic (because of mineral resources) does 'planting a flag' indicate you own the territory and, if so, how much of it? That square foot / mile / whole planet?

Then there's Guantanamo . . . does experience there imply that there are no laws on The Moon?

Susan