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M Probably, it is the most well-known image of a flag ever taken: Buzz Aldrin standing next to the first United States flag planted on the moon. For those who knew their world history, she also sounded the alarm. Less than a century ago, back on Earth, planting a national flag in another part of the world amounted to claiming that territory for the homeland. Did the Stars and Stripes on the moon mean the establishment of an American colony?
When people hear for the first time that I am a lawyer, I practice and teach what is called the "right of space". a big smile or a flicker in the eyes, it is: "So tell me, who owns the moon?"
Of course, claiming new national territories had been a European habit, applied to the non-European parts of the world. In particular, the Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, French and English created enormous colonial empires. But while their attitude was very much centered on Europe, the legal notion that planting a flag was an act of sovereignty quickly imposed and was accepted around the world as an integral part of the law of Europe. people.
If you want to see an epic space action, look tonight, July 27
Clearly, astronauts had more important things in mind than contemplating the legal significance and consequences of this flag being planted but fortunately the question had been settled before the mission. Since the start of the space race, the United States knew that for many people around the world, the sight of an American flag on the moon would raise major political issues. Any suggestion that the moon could become, legally speaking, part of the backwaters of the United States could fuel these concerns, and possibly give rise to international disputes detrimental both to the US space program and to US interests as a whole. , e, v, n, t, s) {if (f.fbq) returns; n = f.fbq = function () {n.callMethod? n.callMethod.apply (n, arguments): n.queue.push (arguments)}; if (! f._fbq) f._fbq = n; n.push = n; n.loaded =! 0; n.version = 2.0 & # 39 ;; n.queue = []; t = b .createElement (e); t.async =! 0; t.src = v; s = b.getElementsByTagName (e) [0]; s.parentNode.insertBefore (t, s)} (window, document, script, // connect.facebook.net/en_US/fbevents.js');fbq(& # 39; init, # 1455869871397255 & # 39;); fbq (& # 39; Track; PageView & # 39;); fbq (& # 39; Track, & # 39; ViewContent & # 39;)
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