Why not buy some land on the Moon? There seems to be plenty available on the Internet, including plots going at a bargain £14.25 per acre (plus tax and fees) from the Lunar Embassy, the company selling the 'property' of American entrepreneur Dennis Hope, who infamously claimed practically all of the Solar System in 1980 because no one else had. No one has officially recognized that Hope's lunar 'deeds' are anything more than novelty gifts. But more than 2 million have been sold since the 1980s, says the company, generating sales of millions of dollars out of empty space, leaving experts to wonder whether the commercial opportunities on the Moon might someday lead to real sales; and to suggest that perhaps they should.A growing body of financiers, lawyers and space enthusiasts believe that the recognition of personal property rights 'out there' is the only realistic way to finance the new frontier of commercially driven space exploration. Legal ownership of the Moon by countries is prevented by the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty. This has been ratified or signed by more than 125 countries, including all the main space players (the United States, Russia, Japan, China and India).

By its mandate, the American flags currently 'flying' on the Moon do not give the United States a greater claim to it over any other nation.But on the matter of private ownership, things are arguably more murky. The United Nations attempted to tackle this with the 1979 Moon Treaty, which states that no pieces of the Moon can become property of any "state, international or national organization or non-governmental entity or of any natural person". But, perhaps because the prospect of any risk in this area seemed so far away, hardly anyone signed: only 12 countries agreed, none of them major players in the space game.Louis Freedman, co-founder of the California-based Planetary Society, whose mission is to inspire planetary exploration and to seek out new life, testified to a Senate hearing on whether the United States should sign up: "I told them that making laws in the absence of knowing what you are trying to make a law about is not a good idea," he says.

View: Full Article | Source: Nature.com

This reminds me of companies that sell 'naming' stars. It's not officially recognized by anyone, and astronomers (although they should) will never recognize 'ReviewDude Rules K?', or 'Jill and John Together 4 Eva'. If you want to do something like that - just print your own certificate on a nice piece of paper. It'll be of the same legal value as the companies will make.

As for land of the moon, I think it should be like Antarctica. No-one can own it, build on it (other than for research) or take advantage of its resources. Sure, 'buy' a piece of land and pay fifteen quid for a nice bit ofink and paper; but it's never going to pay off anyway. Who wants real estate somewhere with no atmosphere?

Got to agree with you there it's pointless as i cannot see the moon being lived on for many years to come, so unless the governments have hid lots from us that there ready to put houses on the moon then i wouldn't buy as sure it may sky rocket but most likely senario is it will make nothing.

And if you did buy some, what would be the point unless you're in you're early 30s maybe 40s as any older and you risk not getting near the time where we could possibly live on the moon.

Also whos to say we could build on it? Whos to say the land could hold a building and think about the costs of lviing on there, it would cost thousands more than living on the earth....

Assuming the land was legally your own, you'd also own the rights to any resources found in your plot.

I agree that it's pointless to think about "owning" property on the moon - who says it belongs to us, anyway? There seems to be enough fighting concerning property on Earth already - maybe we should sort that stuff out before we start fighting about property on the moon...

Besides that, can you IMAGINE how much it would cost to live on the moon? Who would have that kind of money? First there would be the cost of the "land", then the cost of making it habitable, then getting the materials to build a hospitable living environment... the list goes on and on.

Not to mention that it's cold and dark and you can't go outside! I don't think that I would like to live in a place where the oxygen has to be produced for me, and I could never go outside for a walk... You can build a bio-sphere (or whatever they call it in space), but you can't reproduce the feeling of wind on your face, or a good thunderstorm.

And really, has anyone thought about what would happen to a fetus in a forced-gravity situation? Because honestly, we all know that if we ever make it to getting 'regular Joes' to the moon, there's going to be a race to be the first to have sex, or get pregnant or give birth in space! Ah, humanity.

Not really. If you buy land on Earth you own from the ground to the top of your house. If you have no house, you own a 2-D area until you apply for permission to build anything. Same with the moon, but who's in charge of planning permission? As far as I know there's no 'Moon Council'.

I see. So it really is pointless then.

Well that's what I thought. And it's doubtful that there are many resources anyway. I mean, if there were, who's going to build a pipeline from Earth to the Moon? Okay maybe the Texans, but other than them...

Haha I bought one of those lunar deeds from the lunar embassy a number of years ago when they were offering deeds to thousands of acres of moon property. Only $19.95. I think I was 16 or 17 when I sent away for the deed. I don't put much faith in it, it's fun to show people though and fun to have. It's nice to dream ... novelty or not.

Who really owns the Moon? A group of Geneva, Ohio, residents say they claimed Luna as their own back in 1966. And they have the paperwork to prove it...

then again theres an international treaty that turns jurisdiction of all heavenly bodies over to the international community... The treaty makes a declaration that the moon (which the treaty notes includes all celestial bodies for the purposes of language) should be used for the benefit of all states and all peoples of the international community...

LINK-> Who Owns the Moon?
LINK-> Moon Treaty

So, just to be argumentative, if the good people of Geneva have "owned" the moon since 1966, did NASA ask their permission to land? Or would that be trespassing? ;-)

LOL, good point... maybe the Astronauts could charged with theft... they did take hundreds of pounds of Moon rocks

So, would leaving a flag be considered littering? And footsteps in the sand a form of graffiti? (I think I'm getting a bit carried away here...)

on top of it being pointless to own land on the moon, has anyone remembered the artical a while ago about the Japanese wanting to build a moon colony in around 2024? Honestly if anyone can do something like that, it would be them. But the most important questions here is.

1.) if you did own the land, how would you get there?
2.) if you got there, how would survive while building whatever it is you can build?
3.) You dont have the kind of grvity you do on earth so how are you going to hold your suplioes to the surface.

XD I'd love to believe that the old story of moon people was real but wow...

Three very good points, especially the one about how would you build it. You'd need either a long time in a space suit - or to bring a house towed behind. And that reminds me of Futurama.

Nice post

all this time i thought bill gates owned the moon ?--lol

I'm sure he could buy it... Not sure why he would. It's impossible to CRASH the moon.

*Sigh - Sorry, it's late.*

Eventually the technology will be available along with a revolution in Earthly economics so that inhabiting the celestial bodies wont be considered by who owns any such property on the planest but for mass migration. Its only logical. We can inch our way into the cosmos all we like with a snails progress but we our overpopulating and the animals are dying and the atmosphere is disapearing, all the signs point to mass migration-extinction-alien invasion- or annilation. I dont see how any single person holds any relevancy in holding a permit of land in space. It cannot stand against the overwelming evidence leading to mass something or other. It's comming...Whatever it is.

Do you suppose 'celestial bodies' as defined by the international community includes other stars and the planets there. Or, would those worlds be free to whoever got there (or was already there) first?

Good points.

Wouldn't it be easier and possibly cheaper to make places such as -

Australia (the outback)
Africa (especially the desert)

etc....

liveable. You have land that you can access, and with money, perhaps some way of making it a liveable environment.

Oh, and you forgot -

4.) Cost of posting mail to family at Earth.
5.) The nightmate scenario of putting the cat out for the night as it slowly drifts off someplace.
6.) Number of homeruns in baseball games.
7.) Would world records be allowed? High Jump record now 24m

I suppose living there might be possible. It would be super expensive though. And take years to prepare. Lets say food for one... Ok, so first, you have to set up some sort of greenhouse, import everything from dirt to water to fuel for your generator to make artificial light if the sunlight will not suffice... you have to grow all kinds of plants, not just veggies for you, but also start growing hay and grass and grains to feed your livestock. Then, after these things have succeded in growing, you have to create some sort of "pen" for your livestock, must have a roof, oxygen, maybe you could put soil on the ground to start fodder growing there too... must have right minerals and bacteria and insects or else things wont grow right, and poop would not decay and fertilize...
Then you must build your home. No city wide waste system to hook into or anything, so you must have some sort or septic tank, and water shipped in. Lots of water will have to be shipped in, for the humans, animals and plants... No power plants, so you must have a generator (maybe solar power would work for this? I dunno), must ship in fuel for this. No phone lines or internet hook up, so when you need something, you just have to tell the person that brings you your shipments of goods, and he will bring it on the next. I'll be a while before you get the luxuries, especially if you think of something you want or need soon after he has taken off. You might be lucky and have another form of communication, but it will still have a major delay, and depending on the rotation of the moon, you might have to wait until you are pointing right.
Forget about emergency medical service. You cannot call 911 and have someone come when you are having a heart attack. You will have to be almost completely self sufficient. You will have to take care of yourself, and your family. You will grow your own food, kill your own livestock, harvest your crops. No one will be there to help you. You will not be able to just go to the store and buy a beer if things get too rough... you will have to brew it and wait for it to ferment.
While you may be able to bring a DVD player and some movies, what will you do for entertainment? you will not have much time for it anyway, but everyone needs a break, right? Unless you make a nature habitat, you will not even be able to take a stroll in the park... Sure, you can watch the earth and space, but you are living here now, eventually you want to do something else... You cannot go out to eat, you cannot go to the store, there are no concerts or amusement parks, you cannot go fishing, what do you do? it will be all work, no play. When you do have free time, there will only be the basics which most people do not care for anymore like reading (I would be fine with that, but I am trying to think of the fact that alot of people despise that) or possibly watching the same movies again and again.
When you die, you will leave your family with one less person to work the settlement. THey will have no time to mourn your death. If there was something that you alone were able to do (maybe you are the only one who knows how to properly butcher your livestock or the only one with a green thumb), there is a major handicap in the workings of life. And then there is the question of what to do with your body? Logically, it could be used as fertilizer, but would your family be able to handle that? Would they eject you into space?
In my opinion, unless an entire community was willing to make a settlement, the idea of living on the moon would not work at all. it would be a hard and stressful life. Everyone would have to work together, there would be no room for disagreements or slackers. While it might be possible, I don't see it as probable.

Can you really "own" airspace? Owning land on the moon will happen, no doubt about it. There will be wars over "space" and other celestial bodies.

I think it would be cool if they made a series of films about that. Possibly six, starting at numbers 3-6 then 1-3. But, of course, 1 and 2 will be disappointments. And people should, if these are made, always consider 3-6 to be the best.

I think it's just plain piontless untill we actually get a few people living up there for atleast a decade...

Good god, that just made me laugh so hard, I'm not sure it was good for me.

Hmm... Looks like you'd better just stick a little bit of paper on the screen whenever you see my post. Or better yet, tipp-ex. It's better to be safe than sorry

1.) rocket duh
2.) the japanese are the ones leading the robo advancements, there we go
3.) the moon is made of rock right? not jelly or cheese? Bolt your supplies to the rock and have your robo minions do all the work.

I personally think its a great idea, if a bit expensive. the human race has been living to breed, obey your religion (if you believe in that sorta thing) and following both national and individual dreams.

If someone has a dream to live on the moon, they have a point to go live on the moon.

Okie this is quiet a bit of info but, I got couple 'o comments. The things you cannot do if you lived on the moon; in the periods of time that led up to the present did we have any of these luxuries at the time? The medival farmer did not have stores, concerts (partially true they entertained themselves by other means usually), amusments parks. They were nearly self-sufficent in every way besides the ability to defend themselves from enemies. As were their predecessor and their succeeders until we became connect with everyone else becoming a single bio-organism, dependent on each other to survive.

( Also I forgot to mention, that a greenhouse has all the light it needs from the real sun, it still exists even if your in space. Genetics may solve some of the veggie problems....)

What im really trying to say is that even though it would be hard, unprobable, etc. it is still something man as a species, nation, community, even as individual. If we do not go for these lenghts how will our species ever live longer then the sun?(assuming that evolution does not apply; even then our far desendents will still be a form of human) How can we scatter the seeds of other civilizations across the stars?

^^ Nice quad post



How would you get all the supplies to 'bolt' down up to the moon. And when you're up there, you'd need a huge supply of oxygen to get out, do all the work, set up your robots (how would you get those up?) - have them crash a few times, reboot Windows BM [Building Houses on the Moon] - then hope that actually you remembered to pack a toothbrush.

Also, wouldn't you have to dig in the foundations? Or else, in a vacuum, it would just collapse...

*Frank'n'Liz*

Pondered over your posting and came to this conclusion -

To sort the boredom, lack of entertainment etc etc etc.....

Build a self sufficient land area to all intents and purpose without too many animals. Try and make it to some degree pre-mammal.
Slowly over time should it work out expand the network, but the important thing being you need to use glass that isn't going to break.

Now the good part.

Empty jails and such and transport the people to this new land with tools to farm the land. Give them resources to construct simple buildings.
Hey..... It has to be more interesting than 4 concrete walls.

If it goes wrong? Well..... They had a chance to make a change in their life, and gets the burden off the tax payer and frees up a lot of room in our cramped jails.

If it goes well? The basis for a society on the moon, and in the worst case start the same scenario, but seperated from the first base.

Suddenly I get the feeling this is Space Big Brother. I demand the rights here and now.

Thanks
well let me stess on the way to get all this to the moon. ROCKET SHIP . If the Japanese are as good at building robots as i think they are they could probably have the ship land, automaticly bolt itslef to the surface (or maybe something like that....), robots dancing out of the rocket and get to work. Why use Windows for the robots (why not linux or Mac)? And maybe have a couple of digging robots for your precious "foundations".

love comments like this they're so...interesting

Hmm... getting a bit off topic here eh? This is more or less how to build structures at a rate were human lives will be safer, and no need to make large trips for those space-construction worker to come on and off the moon. ON TOPIC: I think we could really own land on the moon as long as politics don't come in the way of it. I'm sure some egghead will think of something very efficent in ways to live on the moon so I figure it not much of a problem.

Golf would be interesting on the moon ands no doubt the rich people who can afford such real-estate wont forget about building golf corses.

How about sub-terranian living quarters on the moon?

Just a question i'll throw in.
How do all the planets and suns get to be spherical in shape?

It's only a matter of time before we hear about Lunar Starbucks-Now Hiring