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<< "...irreplaceable national resources..." >>
Gentlefolk,
Eventually moon rocks should be a very replaceable resource--literally dirt
cheap. It's only a matter of when. Keep the faith. ;-)
As I understand, neither an individual nor a government can claim an entire
astronomical body, but claims and use short of that are subject to debate and
the legacy of common law, including that of the sea. Generally, the person or
entity who surveys and develops land first has the greater claim to
ownership--perhaps exceeding that of someone who has simply claimed the land without any
effort to survey, occupy, defend, or develop it. It is also possible to
claim that phrases like "for the benefit of all mankind" can apply to commercial
development that benefits the general economy, environment, etc., so that
existing treaty law--despite what some of it sounds like--is not necessarily
hostile to commercial development. At one time it was envisioned that an
international agency under UN auspices would be created to police interplanetary
development (and I've made reference to such an agency in some of my fiction). Where
that stands now, I have no idea.
--Best, Gerald