Eq rogue weapons lunark
spy satellite as it was falling back to Earth. The United States, in 2008, used its antimissile Aegis system to hit a failed U.S. Attacks on satellites might paralyze both.Ĭhina raised serious concerns in 2007 by testing its ability to target a dead satellite with a missile from Earth everyone understood the satellite might, under other circumstances, have been live. military communications, and an even more vital role in the world's economy. But merely exploding lunar rock, even with a rocket hull, where the scientific mission is clear, is not the "weaponization" of space.Įven though NASA's moon-bashing does not raise legal questions, serious questions involving space weaponry, are still with us-and much closer to home. These are all practical arrangements for dealing with a world that is highly dependent upon satellites for communications, weather monitoring and many other crucial functions.īut lawyers look for the unexpected as well as the expected, so is there any reason to think that NASA's LCROSS blast might have violated the Outer Space Treaty, even inadvertently? The treaty prohibits the testing of weapons, the placement of weapons or military bases on the Moon or other "celestial bodies," and prohibits the placement of nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction anywhere in space, and specifically in orbit around the Earth. One treaty, for example, covers the rescue and return of astronauts who, in an emergency, might come down anywhere on Earth another establishes the liability of parties who put things into space for damage they might cause if they come down again without burning up and another sets up a registry for identification of objects in Earth orbit. has joined subsequent treaties that respond to today's intensive use of Earth orbit. The Outer Space Treaty (dating back to 1967, not long before the first lunar landing) covers many aspects of humans in space, including the peaceful uses of space. The United States has joined four international agreements that regulate different questions about space activities. But while many might be surprised-dismayed, even-to hear that there is such a thing as "space law," there are treaties governing activities in outer space, including the Moon. Some even wondered whether NASA might have acted illegally or violated an international law or treaty by setting out to "bomb the Moon." Nonetheless, comments on Web sites such as Scientific American and Nature indicate that quite a few people thought the whole venture to be some sort of outer-space vandalism.
The LCROSS mission is an important and expensive scientific experiment.