Planetary Scientist Wants UN To Ban Private Ownership of the Moon

So .... who 'owns' the moon??

Does the UN have authority to determine who can and can't own property on the moon?
Does anyone really have to recognize the pronouncements of the UN? They are a paper tiger.

Is banning private property ownership on the moon anti-capitalism and counterproductive to enterprising individuals and entrepreneurship? Afterall, if someone is smart enough to figure out how to have private flights back and forth from earth to the moon, shouldn't they be able to start a business doing so?

OR is banning private property ownership on the moon anti-commercialism and the moon should be preserved, much like the national parks are in the USA??

The current status of the moon is that no United Nations nation-members can appropriate it for themselves. No country can claim it to be part of them ..... it can't be America or Russia or China ... that kind of thing. This proposal goes further. To put it in perspective ... It would be like the Kings of Europe saying that no one could live in the newly discovered Americas and own their own property. It's a massive land grab attempt by the scientist in the name of the (corrupt cesspool) United Nations. But is it a good idea or not?

Planetary Scientist Wants UN To Ban Private Ownership of the Moon

A planetary scientist wants the United Nations to draw up a law that states the moon cannot be owned, according to the UK Telegraph.

The legal status of the moon is currently defined by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty of the United Nations in which it says all UN member states are "prohibited from appropriating the moon."

Ian Crawford, professor of planetary science at Birkbeck College in London, who proposed the idea, warned that as international space exploration increases and corporations aim to mine for minerals and commercial airways fly tourists to the earth's satellite, it would be lunar lunacy not to draw up a new UN treaty that includes private organizations.

Existing thread.

Sorry to rain on the parade, someone beat you to it.

reply to post by boncho

Thanks. I use the search function but sometimes, for some reason, things slip by.

reply to post by FlyersFan


If the North Pole and Antarctic areas are not "owned" by anybody, then the same will apply for the Moon. As of now that might not be the case when it comes to asteroids, comets and smaller bodies in the solar system.

Given the politics of the UN, they will make sure that the US cannot claim the Moon--and we don't make that claim. What we can expect as China gears itself up for a manned Moon shot is that the UN will pass a resolution and get international support for banning any country claiming outright ownership of the Moon and perhaps any body in space regardless of its size or position. Seems almost rational, doesn't it?