Exploring Space in the Spirit of Kinship
上的首次登陆点应受到的认可和保护要比地球上的任意地点 要少 。 不过 , 私人公司现在为一己之利而挖掘并出售太空资 源 。 自 2015 年起 , 美国就开始煽动 — 在两党的基础上 — 应对 国际空间法中的空白 , 并保证商业太空开采公司能保有从月 球或其他星球上挖掘的矿物质及元素的所有权 , 进而能为获 取一己之利将资源出售给他人 。 鉴于此 , 本文恳求国际社区 通过和平利用外层空间委员会 ( COPUOS ) 发起重要程序 , 将 “ 就如何保护人类最伟大的空间宝藏达成一致 ” 包括在 内 。
关键词 : 太空 , 探索 , 亲属 , 太空资源 , 国际空间法 , 所有 权 , 矿物质 , 元素 , 月球
I . Introduction
On September 10 , 2020 , Jim Bridenstine , Administer of the United States ( US ) National Aeronautics and Space Administration ( NASA ) revealed on Twitter that the NASA “ is buying lunar soil from a commercial provider !” 1 Indeed , NASA announced that it will purchase 50g to 500g of lunar regolith , the equivalent of “ three tablespoons to 2.5 cups ,” for which it “ will pay between $ 15,000 and $ 25,000 .” 2 Hardly seems a trade to get excited about , especially when one considers that in 1993 , just “. 2 grams of lunar soil ... sold for $ 442,500 .” 3 Moreover , this will be an “ in-place ” transfer , meaning it will take place on the lunar surface . 4 Why the fanfare ? Because this purely symbolic transaction seeks to set a controversial legal norm — namely , allowing the extraction and sale of space resources by private companies for profit . Since 2015 , the United States has been instigating — on a bipartisan basis — an effort to address a lacuna in international space law and assure that commercial space mining companies may retain such property rights in the minerals and elements they extract from the Moon and other celestial bod-
1 Jim Bridenstine (@ JimBridenstine ), Twitter ( Sep . 10 , 2020 , 8:31 AM , https :// twitter . com / Jim- Bridenstine / status / 1304049845309669376
2 Cat Hofacker , NASA Plans to Pay Companies to Extract Tablespoons of Lunar Regolith ,” Aerospace America ( Sep . 10 , 2020 ), https :// aerospaceamerica . aiaa . org / nasa-plans-to-pay-companies-to-extract-teaspoons-of-lunar-regolith /#:~: text = NASA % 20will % 20pay % 20between % 20 % 2415 % 2C000 , is % 20turned % 20over % 20to % 20NASA .
3 How Much is That Vial of Moon Dust Really Worth ?, Tampa Bay Times ( June 13 , 2018 ), https :// www . tampabay . com / news / science / How-much-is-that-vial-of-moon-dust-really-worth- _ 169133643 /#:~: text = NASA % 20assessed % 20the % 20value % 20of , a % 20gram % 20in % 20today ' s % 20 currency .
4 Jim Bridenstine , Space Resources Are the Key to Safe and Sustainable Lunar Exploration , NASA . Gov , ( Sep . 10 , 2020 ), https :// blogs . nasa . gov / bridenstine / 2020 / 09 / 10 / space-resources-are-the-keyto-safe-and-sustainable-lunar-exploration /.
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