NASA telescopes have helped us better understand this mysterious, invisible matter that is five times the mass of regular matter. It makes overwhelmingly better sense to buy land from the first settlement – which will be eager to sell land and/or provide transportation to and from the Moon at reasonable prices, – than to spend billions building one’s own space line and then waste it mounting a war of aggression to steal already claimed land. The dollar value of the land, at least in the early years, is its market value on Earth – its salability to speculators and investors on Earth, – and no one would buy stolen land from someone who is not the recognized owner. But aggression is not going to be the problem it would be on Earth, because it really wouldn’t pay economically. Similarly, on the individual level, early Lunar settlements, unlike old west gold rush mining camps, will not have a problem of stronger neighbors kicking weaker neighbors off their land.

The investor/owners will be drawn from all around the world, as will the land buyers. This legislation must be structured to be sure that, if a settlement company goes bankrupt, its ships and settlement will be sold, if need be, for pennies on the dollar, to others who will keep them operating. Given today’s global economy, it is almost certain that all entrants in the race to establish a settlement will be multi-national consortia. There is no chance at all we will withdraw from the treaty because, in some ways, it provides a sound framework for activities in space, and it includes provisions, such as banning weapons of mass destruction from space, that are considered much too important to tamper with. The Outer Space Treaty says any nation can withdraw from the treaty on one year’s notice. He is the author of numerous articles on the subject of space property rights, most recently in The Explorers Journal, the official magazine of the Explorers Club, Space News, Ad Astra, Space Governance, Space Times and Space Front among others. Thus, private property established that way might delay settlement, rather than hasten it.

Those who had received the land grants could then charge those who wanted to establish a settlement, rather than funding them. Anyone who had such ships could use them to establish a whole new legitimate settlement, rather than fighting to steal some of the 4% of the Moon in the first settlement. NASA could also play a role in helping to determine whether ship designs are safe and reliable and whether a genuine permanent settlement has been established. This may be the most realistic and achievable way to accomplish our goal of establishing permanent humansettlements on the moon. Clementine and Lunar Prospector have demonstrated that the poles of the Moon have many potential advantages over other areas of the Moon. He was the first to propose that the first human settlement on the Moon might use a permanently sun-lit mountain top at the moon’s south pole, the existence of which was only later confirmed by the Clementine mission. The first lunar settlement would have a big advantage over others that came later. Many others have contributed a great deal to it, deserving thanks and credit for supplying key ideas, explaining the fine points of international law, promoting the idea, helping with writing and editing or in other ways, and even by attacking the plan and exposing weak points that needed fixing.

These interactive elements foster a sense of community and engagement, making the experience of watching NASA’s live streams even more enriching. Minimalism makes a lot of sense in the bathroom. Alan is the originator of the idea of using land claim recognition to make privately funded space settlements potentially profitable, and therefore possible in our lifetime. The 2011 law school textbook from Westview Press, “International Law”, Silverburg, ed., contains a full chapter supporting the idea. Alan Wasser is a former broadcast journalist at ABC News and CBS News, who then owned and operated a successful international business, which he sold. In 2010, 51 per cent of employees in Europe trusted senior leaders, compared to 74 per cent who trust their immediate managers. The workplace interior should make the area look more elegant not overwhelm visitors and employees. These can be shipped to manufacturers to make car bodies or construction materials.