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Was NASA's moon bombing legal?

Fri, 10/09/2009 - 10:08am

One small step for science, one giant step for international treaty lawyers. Or something like that anyway.

Amateur astronomers squinted to see the anti-climactic "explosion" Friday morning, but others were far more concerned about the potential impact (and legality) of NASA's scientific experimentation.

The UN Moon Treaty (technically the 1967 Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and other Celestial Bodies), states that:

In exploring and using the Moon, States Parties shall take measures to prevent the disruption of the existing balance of its environment, whether by introducing adverse changes in that environment, by its harmful contamination through the introduction of extra-environmental matter or otherwise."

Although the (no joke) United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs makes no mention of the lunar explosion, some bloggers say the treaty seems to have been violated, and that

Only people with colonized minds believe these things are positive, or that this type of "progress" can be beneficial to anyone beyond a small circle of exploiter-elites."

NASA investigators attempted to allay environmental concerns, albeit without addressing the potential international law issues:

The impact has about 1 million times less influence on the moon than a passenger's eyelash falling to the floor of a 747 [jet] during flight," said an investigator.

The response won't satisfy the pacifists, but it should reassure the many moon property owners as to the continuing worth of their land.

Jordana Timerman | Permalink |

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I find it interesting that it

by Grant on Fri, 10/09/2009 - 3:11pm

I find it interesting that it is called a bombing when no explosives were involved. 'Crash' would have been a better phrase in my opinion.

How is it different than a C-ICBM strike?

by johnbragg on Sun, 10/11/2009 - 7:57am

Hardware-wise, it's a C-ICBM strike with a slug instead of an explosive warhead, which is a commonly discussed configuration for C-ICBM programs.

But I thought that Obama was not cool with the whole preemptive-attack thing? The Moon threat seemed pretty remote, even by worst-case scenario standards.

And does anyone else think that Captcha and other verification programs have been getting more Zen? "40 durable." It's like they're using a Random Band Name Generator.

Or is it just that they've gone to a 2-word format?

NASA Bombing - Hello is there anybody out there?

by lhansen on Thu, 10/15/2009 - 8:27am

When I first read about NASA bombing the moon in my local Saturday paper I was just stunned. First I couldn't believe that this action could be carried out without other countries' approval/knowledge; second that the article appeared in the middle of the paper - not the front page - it was small and without any extensive information and finally that no one seems the least concerned about it - just me and a guy who thinks we've started a war with moon aliens.

Ok so it wasn't really a bomb b/c no explosives we used .. HELLO... it made a 5 mile crater in a planet that plays a very essential role in our existence on earth.

So sorry the pictures weren't that great ... Is there any country or any other person on earth that doesn't see the big picture?

NASA, the USA, has carried out an act that could very well have devastating effects on our solar system and on our existence. The fact that the rest of the world seems ok with that is like giving NASA a stamp of approval to do whatever it wants whenever it wants to any planet in the galaxy.

I wonder what the reaction would be if a missle was sent to earth that made a 5 mile crater. If not a missle, a meteorite, space debris.. whatever. What possible effects would it have on our planet? Don't you think it would get a little more attention.

The US is playing GOD with our existence. The UN members need to find their balls and stand up to America and say no, you can't do that again without our full approval.