Do You Need a Permit to Land on the Moon?

Billosaur writes "With the recent announcement of Google's X-prize for a successful private landing of a robot on the Moon, someone has asked the Explainer at Slate.com if permission is required to land something on the Moon? Turns out that while there is no authority that regulates landing objects on another world, getting there does require the permission of the national government from where the launch takes place. This is in accordance with the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, signed by 91 nations, which regulates the uses of outer space by the nations of Earth. Specifically, Article VI enjoins: 'The activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty.' Start your paperwork!" J adds: The relevant quote from Destination Moon is "If we ask for permission, they'll find a way to block us. So we go now, as soon as we can!"

Comments

Re:Makes sense

[Anonymous Coward]

I went to the moon without leaving Earth, and it didn't require any permit. I think it did require some papers, though.

Re:Irrelevant.

[AHumbleOpinion]

Anyone who has the technical capability to do a moon shot can safely ignore this. What are they going to say, that their launch doesn't count because it wasn't authorized?

You were planning on returning? While the international treaty may not carry much weight the FAA (assuming US) regulations being violated surely will. You will lose your pilots license, the spaceport you launched from will probably lose it license, expect to be fined, expect your company to be fined (assuming your space venture is not purely a purely personal endeavor), etc.

I wouldn't be surprised if there are some sort of criminal charges the government could arrange as well for interfering with treaties, ignoring military authority (assuming they have to approve launches), etc.

Of Course You Do

[fyrie]

I need a permit to build a fence in my yard (in the US), so I can only extrapolate that legal requirement to landing on the moon.

Re:Extradition

[AHumbleOpinion]

My question is, once you're there, who's going to come up to arrest you?

Myself and many others will doing everything we can to encourage the government to go and get you. We have to find some way to get NASA properly funded, perhaps the collection of fees and taxes will work.

Old fishing joke

[Dogtanian]

I went to the moon without leaving Earth, and it didn't require any permit. I think it did require some papers, though. Official: Excuse me sir, but did you know that you need a permit to land on the moon?
Astronaut: Thanks for the advice, but I think I'd be better off using a rocket.

Re:Makes sense

[h4rm0ny]

You invent the technology, they'll invent the permits.