posted November 02, 2005 04:40 PM              

David Adam
Monday October 24, 2005
The Guardian

The commute is a drag but there's plenty of outside space and, boy, wait until you see the views. As an out-of-this-world location, location, location, a house on the moon has plenty to offer. And it may not be as far-fetched as you think. Experts have said for years that the technology exists to construct a moon base, just not the will (or the cash). The latter remains a hitch, but with President Bush decreeing that Nasa astronauts will once again walk on the lunar surface, and a possible mission to Mars to follow, the clamour to build a permanent residence there will grow. Nasa has even turned its Hubble space telescope to the task of finding a suitable site.

One small step for a man, perhaps, and one giant leap for a lawyer. Property rights on the mineral-rich moon - or for that matter Mars, Pluto or Alpha Centauri - remain something of a murky issue. So much so that the US National Academies of Science will hold a special meeting on Wednesday to clarify the issue. Space Settlement: Homesteading on the Moon will discuss the policy implications of a lunar colony and whether privately funded missions should be allowed to play a role.
Behind the (fake) lunar title deeds for sale over the internet, there is a serious issue. The wonderfully named United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, which governs, well, outer space, is clear. Its 1967 Outer Space Treaty says no nation can claim ownership of any celestial body (including the moon) and that all nations must agree to their peaceful use. The UN says that private expeditions count as national activities and are covered by the treaty, which has been signed by all the major players. Lawyers disagreed and a second agreement - the 1979 International Moon Treaty - was drawn up to explicitly ban private ownership of lunar real estate. It received much less support and, to date, only France, India and the less than dominant space nations Guatemala, Peru and Romania have bothered to sign.

Klaus Heiss, director of the Washington space advocacy group High Frontier, who is speaking on Wednesday, says this means that those able to afford it can build and own their own des res on the moon. "The UN is just playing King George at the time of the American revolution thinking they can tell everyone else what to do. They can't," he says.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/ideas/story/0,16345,1599197,00.html

United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) is responsible for promoting international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space. The Office serves as the secretariat for the General Assembly's only committee dealing exclusively with international cooperation in the peaceful uses of outer space: the Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNCOPUOS). The Committee has two subcommittees: the Scientific and Technical Subcommittee and the Legal Subcommittee.

The United Nations Programme on Space Applications (PSA) is implemented by UNOOSA and works to improve the use of space science and technology for the economic and social development of all nations, in particular developing countries. Under the Programme, the Office conducts training courses, workshops, seminars and other activities on applications and capacity building in subjects such as remote sensing, communications, satellite meteorology, search and rescue, basic space science, satellite navigation, and space law.

On behalf of the Secretary-General, UNOOSA maintains the Register of Objects Launched into Outer Space and disseminates information contained therein. An index of all functional space objects launched into outer space, including information contained in the Register, is available online.

UNOOSA prepares and distributes reports, studies and publications on various fields of space science and technology applications and international space law. Click here for an index of documents published by UNOOSA.

The Office provided substantive secretariat services for the three United Nations Conferences on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE), which were held in 1968, 1982 and 1999. The Office now supports and participates in the implementation of the recommendations of UNISPACE III.

The United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs is located at the United Nations Office at Vienna, Austria.

http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/