Who owns the Moon and the Oceans?

The area from 100-1000 miles above Earth has become very crowded. Over 400 military and civilian satellites in orbit This position is ideal for bouncing

communications

Keppler Syndrome One collision could cause enough

shrapnel to endanger all other satellites. “Domino effect”: shrapnel hits one satellite,

causing more shrapnel, etc. Could make space exploration impossible Space Surveillance Network is already

tracking 18,000 pieces of space junk

Near-Miss Last summer, the International Space

Station was nearly hit by an unidentified piece of debris Crew forced into escape capsule Missed by only 1000 feet. Travelling at over 17,000 mph

Collision Old Russian military satellite collided with

a Iridium Communication satellite. Now have to track 700 new pieces of debris

fanning out in an 800 mile radius Highlights the problem, but what is to be done

about this crowding?

Regulation Ironically, the collision happened while

the United Nations Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space was meeting. States can voluntarily register their satellites,

but not required to No international oversight of all orbits

France has suggested a system Private program SOCRATES downloads public

info, but didn’t know about the collision.

Discuss Which of the 5 Themes does this fall

under? Why is this important?

Who Owns the Moon? Nobody. 1967 Treaty designates the

moon as the “province of all mankind” and forbids military use

India, China and Japan have spacecraft orbiting the moon U.S. will join them next year Google Lunar X Prize: $30 million to first

private team to send a robot to the moon and send data back

Moon Treaty? No laws, so look to the seas

Some say Lunar laws should be based off of laws governing international waters

Others say that it should be first come, first serve for property and resources

1979 Moon Agreement forbids exploitation of resources by any one nation, but no one has signed it

Going Beyond• Scientists want a permanent scientific outpost like

the one in Antarctica How will we ever get to Mars if we can’t set up on

the Moon? “Arrive, survive, and thrive”

Discussion Do the benefits outweigh the costs of

using the moon? For settlement? For research? For resources?

Who Owns the Oceans? Command of coastal areas has been

important to governments. 20th century - countries began to come

together to discuss a standardization of maritime boundaries.

Ancient times through the 1950s- countries established the limits of their jurisdiction at sea on their own. Most countries established a distance of 3

nautical miles. These territorial waters are considered part of a country, subject to all of the laws of that country.

Expanding claims 1930s -1950s, the world began to realize

the value of mineral and oil resources under the oceans. Individual countries began to expand their claims

to the ocean for economic development. In 1945, U.S. President Harry Truman

claimed the entire continental shelf off the coast of the U.S. (which extends almost 200 nm off the Atlantic coast).

In 1952, Chile, Peru, and Ecuador claimed a zone 200 nm from their shores.

UNCLOS The international community realized

that something needed to be done to standardize these borders. A series of United Nations Conferences on the

Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) began in 1958 UNCLOS III Treaty (1973) specified that all

coastal countries would have a 12 nm territorial sea and a 200 nm Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ). Each country would control the economic use

and environmental quality of their EEZ.

Problem areas Countries closer than 24 nm apart draw a

median line boundary between each other's territorial waters

One controversy over the EEZs has been to determine what constitutes enough of an island to have its own EEZ. The UNCLOS definition is that an island must

remain above the water line during high water and may not just be rocks, and must also be habitable for humans.