I recently read on the internet that it is possible to buy a piece of the moon:
“In 1980, an American declared that he owned the moon. Yes, in one fell swoop the man owned 37 million square kilometers of land. He founded a company and started selling pieces of lunar land. It became a success story. The man now has already earned $9 million. Every day he sells 1,500 pieces of lunar land of about 40 acres.”
source: http://www.frankdeboosere.be/vragen/vragen125.php
Is this story correct and what about the other planets? If it really is that simple, why aren’t the other planets claimed?
Answer
What is simple is to put something on the internet, and apparently also find gullible people who fall for it. As long as there is more money to be made from people’s stupidity than from their intelligence, such things will happen. But who am I to say that being smart is better than stupid? Those who “buy” lunar soil in this way may feel that their illusion is worth more than the money they pay for it. But I still find it unethical to set up such constructions.
Claims of possessions on other planets, of course, lack any legal basis. Even naming celestial objects is something that a private individual cannot officially claim; that is the (admittedly, self-claimed) exclusive right of the International Astronomical Union. But it should be clear: if we ever colonize the Moon, then those so-called property rights will play no role at all.
The hardest question is who owns the Earth… Ours, but also of the plants and animals that live there, and of the entire universe that has made all these wonders possible here. It is legally well founded how a person can own a piece of Earth, but in a broader sense he also has a kind of cosmic responsibility for it.
Answered by
prof. Christopher Waelkens
Astronomy
Old Market 13 3000 Leuven
https://www.kuleuven.be/
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