Was NASA’s moon bombing legal?

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 ...

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

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 is a researcher at Foreign Policy.

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