English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Free Plan

The Outer Space Treaty makes it clear that the Moon is the province of allmankind, with the latter ordinarily understood to exclude state or privateappropriation of any portion of its surface. However, there are indeterminaciesin the Treaty and in space law generally over the issue of appropriation. Theseindeterminacies might permit a close approximation to a property claim or somemanner of quasi-property. The recently revealed highly inhomogeneousdistribution of lunar resources changes the context of these issues. Weillustrate this altered situation by considering the Peaks of Eternal Light.They occupy about one square kilometer of the lunar surface. We consider athought experiment in which a Solar telescope is placed on one of the Peaks ofEternal Light at the lunar South pole for scientific research. Its operationwould require nondisturbance, and hence that the Peak remain unvisited byothers, effectively establishing a claim of protective exclusion and de factoappropriation. Such a telescope would be relatively easy to emplace with todaystechnology and so poses a near-term property issue on the Moon. While effectiveappropriation of a Peak might proceed without raising some of the familiarproblems associated with commercial development (especially lunar mining), thepossibility of such appropriation nonetheless raises some significant issuesconcerning justice and the safeguarding of scientific practice on the lunarsurface. We consider this issue from scientific, technical, ethical and policyviewpoints.

The Peaks of Eternal Light: a Near-term Property Issue on the Moon