Science

There are holes in Space!

Holes in space legislation, that is

There are holes in Space!

In spite of the seemingly everlasting state of conflict in the international community, all countries have pretty much agreed to pretend to be friends in outer space.

The UN Outer Space Treaty, adopted unanimously in 1963, outlined the ground rules for outer space use and exploration, including fluffy clauses on helping any astronauts in trouble, irrespective of their country of origin, and keeping all parts of outer space freely accessible to all states (i.e. not invading space to become the Emperor of the Universe). The treaty also prohibited placing nuclear weapons or weapons of mass destruction on celestial bodies, in Earth’s orbit or anywhere else in outer space, which is why we can be relatively certain that the moon will still be there when we wake up tomorrow. Other types of weapons, however, did not get a mention in that treaty or in any of the following UN space law agreements, so if somebody attempted a kinetic orbital strike from the Earth’s orbit and flung a projectile at whatever country they’re having relationship issues with at the moment, the act would technically be legal as far as space law is concerned. While this may seem alarming, us humans already have so many other of ways we could perish as a species that this little issue is but a single star in our increasingly perilous universe.

From Issue 1645

4th Nov 2016

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