[RightWhale]

That was the Moon Treaty. The [can't think of a polite name just now] group pushed a little too hard with that one. But the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty is still in effect and is still being interpreted. The 67 treaty has an escape clause that allows a graceful exit, which should be invoked immediately.

[borghead]

screw the treaty, I'm of chinese descent and have not forgotten history. The chinese empire dominated the pacific and indian oceans in the 15th century, the imperial fleets rounded the cape and established outposts all over the place, but China's rulers became isolationist. In just 300 hundred years, the west with their dinky ships managed to conquor the entire world and surpass the middle kingdom technologically. China, in the meantime became overpopulatedm, impoverished, and stagnant. I think what their current space exploration is a good thing, only this time we should expand and take as much territory as we can in order to ensure at the very least future survival or perhaps even regain status of superpower, not only on this planet, but the entire solar system.