Free Republic

Could a Mars colony become a nation? That question was posed by Michael Byers, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Global Politics and International Law at the University of British Columbia in a Washington Post article. Byers’ answer to his question was yes. A body of international law has evolved over time that recognizes the rights of people to self-determination.

Withdrawing from the Outer Space Treaty and claiming the moon as sovereign American territory would allow the United States to sell land parcels and mineral rights on Earth’s nearest neighbor. The moon is filled with natural resources, including platinum, water (useful for creating rocket fuel and for sustaining space settlers) and helium 3, a substance that does not exist in nature on Earth that could be used to fuel limitless and clean fusion energy. The proceeds of selling pieces of the moon could be used to retire part of the national debt. The United States will need to defend its...

Space Rights Proposal To Be Launched At Lunar Conference Waikoloa Beach - Nov 17, 2003 From Sunday November 16 through to Nov 22, the International Lunar Conference 2003 is being held in Hawaii with the stated purpose of getting us back to the Moon. Many countries and space agencies are sending large delegations, and among the gueats speakers are Moon astronauts John Young and Harrison Schmitt. John Young, still working at NASA, has gained much attention for his statement that "Single-planet Species do Not Last". The conference is also expected to see the launch of a new proposal aimed...

IRON AND ICE NASA Funds Space Center With An Eye To Asteroid Sample Mission Fayetteville - Jan 09, 2003 The Arkansas-Oklahoma Center for Space and Planetary Science has moved one step closer to launching an asteroid sample return collector thanks to funding from NASA. NASA recently announced a grant of $330,000 awarded to the University of Arkansas- and Oklahoma State University-based center and its industrial partner, SpaceWorks of Tucson, Ariz., to develop a sample collector for use with the space center's Hera space mission. Hera is a proposal being led by the space center to send a spacecraft to three...

On the launch fields of Cape Canaveral, rusty gantries and smoke-stained concrete pads sit as silent relics of the Cold War. What is worthwhile has long since been salvaged; the rest awaits demolition while signs warn visitors not to come too close to the dangerous parts. Though sad to look at, the relics are only small-scale dangers. The same cannot be said of another Cold War relic that poses far more risk to America's future. That is the Outer Space Treaty of 1967. Like the abandoned launch fields, the Outer Space Treaty needs to have its valuable parts salvaged, and...

The Outer Space and Moon Treaties and the Coming Moon Rush by Bill Carswell Los Angeles - Apr 18, 2002 Instead of being led by superpowers, the next space race could reasonably be instigated by a developing nation with spacefaring capabilities. An analysis of current events points to China as being a strong candidate for filling this role. The race would not be a sprint, like the cold war race to the moon, but rather a marathon. The goal of the instigator would be to use lunar resources to build solar power satellites to help develop rural and isolated population...