1 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:07,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to tex Stuff, a production from I Heart Radio. 2 00:00:12,119 --> 00:00:15,240 Speaker 1: Hey there, and welcome to tech Stuff. I'm your host, 3 00:00:15,360 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: Jonathan Strickland. I'm an executive producer with I Heart Radio 4 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,400 Speaker 1: and I love all things tech. And in space, no 5 00:00:22,440 --> 00:00:29,080 Speaker 1: one can hear you scream. They also can't hear you laugh, uh, cry, 6 00:00:30,320 --> 00:00:34,320 Speaker 1: or launch a thermonuclear device. And that's caused sound doesn't 7 00:00:34,400 --> 00:00:37,400 Speaker 1: travel in space. Do you know why. It's not that 8 00:00:37,520 --> 00:00:40,360 Speaker 1: there's no air out in space. It's that there's not 9 00:00:40,479 --> 00:00:45,120 Speaker 1: enough of anything out in space. And just to be clear, 10 00:00:45,200 --> 00:00:47,320 Speaker 1: this wasn't how I actually planned to start this episode. 11 00:00:47,320 --> 00:00:49,839 Speaker 1: But I'm on a roll now, so you can't stop me. Okay. 12 00:00:49,840 --> 00:00:52,879 Speaker 1: So sound is a physical phenomena. We've talked about this 13 00:00:52,920 --> 00:00:57,200 Speaker 1: before on Tech Stuff. It's where particles transmit vibrations outward 14 00:00:57,280 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: from a source of those vibrations. And as so long 15 00:01:01,080 --> 00:01:04,400 Speaker 1: as you've got a bunch of physical particles of stuff, 16 00:01:04,920 --> 00:01:07,399 Speaker 1: and those physical particles of stuff are close enough together 17 00:01:07,720 --> 00:01:11,160 Speaker 1: to bump into each other when one gets pushed, but 18 00:01:11,240 --> 00:01:13,440 Speaker 1: they're not so tightly packed that they aren't able to 19 00:01:13,440 --> 00:01:16,240 Speaker 1: move at all, well, then sounds going to travel through 20 00:01:16,959 --> 00:01:21,319 Speaker 1: that substance. Sound will go through water or solid objects 21 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:24,400 Speaker 1: or the air. And in every case, these particles, like 22 00:01:24,600 --> 00:01:28,240 Speaker 1: air molecules for example, vibrate and in the air this 23 00:01:28,280 --> 00:01:31,800 Speaker 1: causes little fluctuations in air pressure, which in turn affect 24 00:01:31,880 --> 00:01:35,399 Speaker 1: the tympanic membrane or ear drum in our ears, and 25 00:01:35,440 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 1: we experience that as hearing sound. I've gone into that 26 00:01:39,640 --> 00:01:44,840 Speaker 1: in greater detail on other podcasts, but that's the basics there. Well, 27 00:01:44,840 --> 00:01:49,760 Speaker 1: in space, there's a vacuum or essentially a vacuum, and 28 00:01:49,880 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: a vacuum is an area devoid of matter. Most of 29 00:01:53,920 --> 00:01:58,400 Speaker 1: space is empty with no matter in it. And if 30 00:01:58,440 --> 00:02:02,560 Speaker 1: there's no matter, there's no medium through which vibrations can travel. 31 00:02:03,400 --> 00:02:06,600 Speaker 1: The vibrations can't go anywhere, so there's there's no sound, 32 00:02:06,600 --> 00:02:09,760 Speaker 1: there's no vibration. But that's not what this episode is 33 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:11,760 Speaker 1: about anyway. I just wanted to say, it's not just 34 00:02:11,880 --> 00:02:15,600 Speaker 1: that there's no air out in space. There's no anything 35 00:02:15,760 --> 00:02:19,440 Speaker 1: out in space. That's the problem. Okay, let's get to 36 00:02:19,440 --> 00:02:22,320 Speaker 1: what this episode is actually about. It's about the rules 37 00:02:22,440 --> 00:02:24,520 Speaker 1: we humans have come up with when it comes to 38 00:02:24,680 --> 00:02:28,639 Speaker 1: space exploration, because, as it turns out, human beings can 39 00:02:28,680 --> 00:02:33,600 Speaker 1: be amazing, but we can also be pretty terrible and 40 00:02:33,680 --> 00:02:37,800 Speaker 1: space holds a lot of potential for amazing and terrible things, 41 00:02:38,400 --> 00:02:41,799 Speaker 1: with or without our involvement. So in order to try 42 00:02:41,840 --> 00:02:45,680 Speaker 1: and guide us towards being more amazing and less terrible, 43 00:02:46,200 --> 00:02:48,600 Speaker 1: very smart people got together to come up with some 44 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: basic rules that we should all follow. Basic vague rules, 45 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:57,480 Speaker 1: but they were kind of vague on purpose. Now recently 46 00:02:57,960 --> 00:03:01,359 Speaker 1: those rules got a bit of any extension with the 47 00:03:01,440 --> 00:03:06,120 Speaker 1: Artemis Accords, a collection of guidelines for lunar exploration, you know, 48 00:03:06,200 --> 00:03:10,240 Speaker 1: like exploring the Moon, and those were developed by NASA. Now, 49 00:03:10,240 --> 00:03:12,919 Speaker 1: as I record this, NASA has announced that eight countries, 50 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:16,280 Speaker 1: including the United States, have signed the Accords. There are 51 00:03:16,320 --> 00:03:20,959 Speaker 1: some notable absences in those eight countries, some that might 52 00:03:21,040 --> 00:03:24,280 Speaker 1: change over time and a couple that probably won't. But 53 00:03:24,520 --> 00:03:28,320 Speaker 1: we'll get to all that first. Why do we need 54 00:03:28,560 --> 00:03:31,480 Speaker 1: rules in the first place. Early in the history of 55 00:03:31,520 --> 00:03:35,040 Speaker 1: the space exploration there really were just two big countries 56 00:03:35,600 --> 00:03:38,480 Speaker 1: that we're making any progress at all, and those two 57 00:03:38,480 --> 00:03:43,200 Speaker 1: countries were the United States and the then Soviet Union. 58 00:03:43,680 --> 00:03:48,160 Speaker 1: Complicating matters is that the USA and then US s R. 59 00:03:48,400 --> 00:03:51,880 Speaker 1: We're not the best of buddies, to put it lightly. 60 00:03:52,160 --> 00:03:54,200 Speaker 1: In fact, the two nations were in the middle of 61 00:03:54,320 --> 00:03:57,800 Speaker 1: the Cold War, which was defined as the open rivalry 62 00:03:57,920 --> 00:04:02,880 Speaker 1: between nations that doesn't reached the point of open hostilities. 63 00:04:03,400 --> 00:04:08,080 Speaker 1: The Cold War was an era of propaganda. It was 64 00:04:08,120 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: an era of posturing, political maneuvering, and attempts to undermine 65 00:04:13,840 --> 00:04:17,599 Speaker 1: each other, like each country was doing this actively against 66 00:04:17,680 --> 00:04:20,600 Speaker 1: the other country. I grew up at the tail end 67 00:04:20,839 --> 00:04:24,119 Speaker 1: of the Cold War, and it was not a fun time. 68 00:04:24,240 --> 00:04:27,640 Speaker 1: And you could convincingly argue that we're seeing kind of 69 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,640 Speaker 1: a similar situation today between the United States and a 70 00:04:30,640 --> 00:04:33,400 Speaker 1: couple of other countries. But that's a matter for a 71 00:04:33,400 --> 00:04:37,440 Speaker 1: political podcast, not for tech stuff. However, it's important to 72 00:04:37,560 --> 00:04:42,640 Speaker 1: note that the rush to space wasn't just about demonstrating 73 00:04:42,680 --> 00:04:47,440 Speaker 1: technical superiority over an adversary, though that did play into 74 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:51,000 Speaker 1: it a lot. There were also some pretty heavy implications 75 00:04:51,040 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: that go along with the capability of launching stuff into space. 76 00:04:55,480 --> 00:04:58,400 Speaker 1: So by the nineteen fifties, the Soviet Union had developed 77 00:04:58,400 --> 00:05:02,120 Speaker 1: its own nuclear weapons, and when the USSR launched the 78 00:05:02,160 --> 00:05:04,920 Speaker 1: first man made satellite to orbit the Earth, you know, 79 00:05:05,200 --> 00:05:09,080 Speaker 1: spoot Nick, that was in October nineteen fifty seven. And 80 00:05:09,120 --> 00:05:13,040 Speaker 1: if the Soviets could launch a payload into space, they 81 00:05:13,080 --> 00:05:17,400 Speaker 1: might also be able to mount a nuclear warhead onto 82 00:05:17,560 --> 00:05:21,480 Speaker 1: a ballistic missile and send it across the world. You know, 83 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:24,479 Speaker 1: like at the United States, there would be no need 84 00:05:24,560 --> 00:05:29,400 Speaker 1: to load up bombers aircraft to carry nuclear weapons. Those 85 00:05:29,440 --> 00:05:32,200 Speaker 1: could be intercepted and shot down before they could deploy 86 00:05:32,279 --> 00:05:36,279 Speaker 1: their weapons. So this was a terrifying possibility, the idea 87 00:05:36,360 --> 00:05:39,440 Speaker 1: of a nation being able to press up button, so 88 00:05:39,480 --> 00:05:43,280 Speaker 1: to speak, and send a volley of missiles armed with 89 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,080 Speaker 1: nuclear warheads all the way across the world, and it 90 00:05:46,200 --> 00:05:49,159 Speaker 1: ushered in not just the space race, but also helped 91 00:05:49,240 --> 00:05:52,400 Speaker 1: boost the nuclear arms race and the escalation of the 92 00:05:52,400 --> 00:05:58,800 Speaker 1: philosophy of mutually assured destruction, a truly awful awful approach 93 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:02,200 Speaker 1: to world peace, the idea of well, we have to 94 00:06:02,240 --> 00:06:06,000 Speaker 1: be peaceful because otherwise we will literally obliterate one another. 95 00:06:06,600 --> 00:06:09,919 Speaker 1: Not exactly comforting if you're a little kid. And so, 96 00:06:10,480 --> 00:06:13,960 Speaker 1: partly to demonstrate that the US was just as capable 97 00:06:14,080 --> 00:06:17,440 Speaker 1: as the Soviet Union when it comes to long distance rocketry, 98 00:06:17,520 --> 00:06:21,120 Speaker 1: and partly to attempt to secure the coveted title of 99 00:06:21,240 --> 00:06:25,200 Speaker 1: most technologically and scientifically advanced nation on Earth. We saw 100 00:06:25,240 --> 00:06:28,480 Speaker 1: a lot of rapid development in the fledgling space industry 101 00:06:28,520 --> 00:06:32,440 Speaker 1: in the United States. Now, don't get me wrong. While 102 00:06:32,600 --> 00:06:36,800 Speaker 1: the motivation to fund such development may have come from 103 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:40,320 Speaker 1: less noble origins, the people who are actually working to 104 00:06:40,520 --> 00:06:45,400 Speaker 1: achieve what seemed impossible. We're mostly focusing on solving difficult 105 00:06:45,440 --> 00:06:49,520 Speaker 1: engineering problems. They were using math and science and technology 106 00:06:49,520 --> 00:06:54,480 Speaker 1: and human ingenuity to do some really incredible stuff. Meanwhile, 107 00:06:55,240 --> 00:06:57,719 Speaker 1: some began to think ahead a little bit about the 108 00:06:57,720 --> 00:07:03,520 Speaker 1: implications of base capability. If we were to send satellites 109 00:07:03,560 --> 00:07:07,279 Speaker 1: and later people into space, we might one day also 110 00:07:07,360 --> 00:07:12,880 Speaker 1: send other stuff out there, weapons, for example, or colonists, 111 00:07:13,240 --> 00:07:16,640 Speaker 1: or mining operations, or all sorts of things. And there 112 00:07:16,640 --> 00:07:20,160 Speaker 1: were no guidelines or laws about that. I mean, who 113 00:07:20,240 --> 00:07:24,880 Speaker 1: the heck has jurisdiction out in space? The space cops 114 00:07:25,760 --> 00:07:29,920 Speaker 1: someone called red letter media, and so representatives in the 115 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:33,720 Speaker 1: United Nations began to work out language that would help 116 00:07:33,800 --> 00:07:38,000 Speaker 1: set expectations when it came to space travel and use 117 00:07:38,120 --> 00:07:41,880 Speaker 1: the United Nations considerable clout to convince member nations to 118 00:07:42,000 --> 00:07:46,360 Speaker 1: sign on in agreement. And some nations this would be 119 00:07:46,480 --> 00:07:50,400 Speaker 1: less of a lift than for other nations. Because many 120 00:07:50,480 --> 00:07:53,440 Speaker 1: countries were more or less bystanders with the space race. 121 00:07:53,520 --> 00:07:57,400 Speaker 1: They didn't really have any involvement in the space industry. 122 00:07:57,480 --> 00:08:01,160 Speaker 1: So they could sign a treaty, but you could argue 123 00:08:01,160 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: it wasn't really meaningful because they weren't pursuing space exploration 124 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: or any sort of space industry. But the UN established 125 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:13,080 Speaker 1: there needed to be some ground rules for space. Ground 126 00:08:13,160 --> 00:08:15,680 Speaker 1: rules for space. Well, I feel it's that's not just 127 00:08:15,720 --> 00:08:19,320 Speaker 1: a weird phrase, but possibly an early discarded David Bowie 128 00:08:19,480 --> 00:08:23,840 Speaker 1: song ground rules for space. I'm getting off track. This 129 00:08:24,280 --> 00:08:27,600 Speaker 1: would ultimately lead to the drafting of what we would 130 00:08:27,680 --> 00:08:31,040 Speaker 1: call the Outer Space Treaty, but even that had a 131 00:08:31,080 --> 00:08:36,320 Speaker 1: few predecessors. So for example, nineteen one years before the 132 00:08:36,360 --> 00:08:40,000 Speaker 1: Outer Space Treaty of nineteen sixty seven, during the sixteenth 133 00:08:40,040 --> 00:08:43,160 Speaker 1: session of the General Assembly of the United Nations, the 134 00:08:43,280 --> 00:08:47,640 Speaker 1: UN adopted a resolution called seventeen twenty one UH. The 135 00:08:47,640 --> 00:08:50,400 Speaker 1: Assembly did this without a vote. I should add, and 136 00:08:50,440 --> 00:08:55,960 Speaker 1: this resolution begins quote the General Assembly recognizing the common 137 00:08:56,000 --> 00:08:59,240 Speaker 1: interest of mankind and furthering the peaceful uses of outer 138 00:08:59,360 --> 00:09:03,520 Speaker 1: space and the urgent need to strengthen international cooperation in 139 00:09:03,559 --> 00:09:07,560 Speaker 1: this important field. Believing that the exploration and use of 140 00:09:07,559 --> 00:09:10,439 Speaker 1: outer space should be only for the betterment of mankind 141 00:09:10,800 --> 00:09:13,880 Speaker 1: and to the benefit of States, irrespective of the stage 142 00:09:13,920 --> 00:09:17,920 Speaker 1: of their economic or scientific development, commends to states for 143 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:21,080 Speaker 1: their guidance in the exploration and use of outer space. 144 00:09:21,160 --> 00:09:24,880 Speaker 1: The following principles international law, including the Charter of the 145 00:09:24,960 --> 00:09:29,200 Speaker 1: United Nations, applies to outer space and celestial bodies. Outer 146 00:09:29,280 --> 00:09:32,440 Speaker 1: space and celestial bodies are free for exploration and use 147 00:09:32,600 --> 00:09:35,920 Speaker 1: by all states in conformity with international law, and are 148 00:09:35,960 --> 00:09:40,200 Speaker 1: not subject to national appropriation. The resolution goes on to 149 00:09:40,400 --> 00:09:43,840 Speaker 1: invite a committee one called the Peaceful Uses of Outer 150 00:09:44,040 --> 00:09:50,760 Speaker 1: Space to research potential legal problems and their solutions. Subsequent resolutions, 151 00:09:50,800 --> 00:09:55,920 Speaker 1: such as Resolution eighteen zero two and Resolution nineteen sixty 152 00:09:56,000 --> 00:10:00,840 Speaker 1: two would further emphasize that space exploration should be treated 153 00:10:00,920 --> 00:10:04,160 Speaker 1: as an endeavor with the goal of benefiting all people's 154 00:10:04,240 --> 00:10:07,760 Speaker 1: of Earth, not just the individual nations that were involved 155 00:10:07,760 --> 00:10:11,240 Speaker 1: in the actual pursuit of space exploration. Moreover, that the 156 00:10:11,280 --> 00:10:15,560 Speaker 1: guiding principles should be overall peaceful. As this was going on, 157 00:10:15,960 --> 00:10:20,480 Speaker 1: the United States and the Soviet Union continued their space race, 158 00:10:20,520 --> 00:10:22,920 Speaker 1: with the Soviets getting a bunch of firsts like the 159 00:10:22,960 --> 00:10:26,240 Speaker 1: first human in orbit UH and the first spacewalk, but 160 00:10:26,360 --> 00:10:29,560 Speaker 1: the US wasn't far behind and registered a few firsts 161 00:10:29,559 --> 00:10:32,880 Speaker 1: of its own, including the first case of two spacecraft 162 00:10:33,040 --> 00:10:37,640 Speaker 1: docking while in space. Moreover, in nineteen sixty two, President 163 00:10:37,720 --> 00:10:40,560 Speaker 1: John F. Kennedy famously declared that by the end of 164 00:10:40,600 --> 00:10:44,040 Speaker 1: that decade, the United States would put astronauts on the 165 00:10:44,040 --> 00:10:47,760 Speaker 1: Moon's surface. At the same time, the world was growing 166 00:10:47,960 --> 00:10:51,480 Speaker 1: far more tense as the US and uss ARE were 167 00:10:51,559 --> 00:10:54,960 Speaker 1: ramping up the Cold War. Here on Earth. The US 168 00:10:55,040 --> 00:10:58,440 Speaker 1: had installed ballistic missiles and countries like Turkey and Italy 169 00:10:58,600 --> 00:11:01,640 Speaker 1: that were capable of reaching locations within the Soviet Union. 170 00:11:01,960 --> 00:11:05,880 Speaker 1: The United States had also partly funded an invasion of 171 00:11:05,960 --> 00:11:09,280 Speaker 1: Cuba to try and depose Fidel Castro in the Bay 172 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:13,360 Speaker 1: of Pigs invasion. The reasons behind this go well beyond 173 00:11:13,640 --> 00:11:16,680 Speaker 1: the scope of our podcast, but a consequence of that 174 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:20,440 Speaker 1: action was that Castro would reach out to the Soviet 175 00:11:20,520 --> 00:11:23,920 Speaker 1: Union and ask that the USSR installed nuclear weapons on 176 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:28,480 Speaker 1: Cuba as a deterrent for any future invasion attempts, and 177 00:11:28,600 --> 00:11:33,360 Speaker 1: the USSR agreed and began to ship and kind of 178 00:11:33,360 --> 00:11:36,920 Speaker 1: smuggle nuclear weapons into Cuba. And Cuba is just a 179 00:11:37,000 --> 00:11:39,040 Speaker 1: hundred miles or so off the coast of Florida in 180 00:11:39,080 --> 00:11:42,440 Speaker 1: the United States, and the nuclear arming of Cuba led 181 00:11:42,480 --> 00:11:47,199 Speaker 1: to a series of hurried and tense talks that fortunately 182 00:11:47,800 --> 00:11:51,360 Speaker 1: resulted in the uss ARE withdrawing weapons from Cuba and 183 00:11:51,400 --> 00:11:54,240 Speaker 1: the US dismantling the weapons it had placed in Europe. 184 00:11:54,679 --> 00:11:58,120 Speaker 1: But historians point to the crisis as the closest that 185 00:11:58,200 --> 00:12:01,960 Speaker 1: the two nations ever got to act initiating a nuclear war. 186 00:12:02,760 --> 00:12:06,360 Speaker 1: While the Cuban missile crisis ended without a war, the 187 00:12:06,400 --> 00:12:12,080 Speaker 1: antagonism between the United States and the USSR was undeniable, 188 00:12:12,440 --> 00:12:16,839 Speaker 1: and with both nations launching missions into space, committees within 189 00:12:17,000 --> 00:12:20,480 Speaker 1: the United Nations felt compelled to outline a more thorough 190 00:12:20,520 --> 00:12:24,160 Speaker 1: set of rules regarding space exploration and how space should 191 00:12:24,200 --> 00:12:28,559 Speaker 1: be treated from a political and global perspective. And that's 192 00:12:28,559 --> 00:12:33,400 Speaker 1: how the Outer Space Treaty of nineteen sixty seven, otherwise 193 00:12:33,440 --> 00:12:37,080 Speaker 1: known as the Treaty on Principles governing the Activities of 194 00:12:37,160 --> 00:12:40,840 Speaker 1: States in the exploration and use of outer space, including 195 00:12:40,840 --> 00:12:44,440 Speaker 1: the Moon and other celestial bodies, would come about. The 196 00:12:44,520 --> 00:12:48,160 Speaker 1: United Nations opened the Treaty for signatures in three locations 197 00:12:48,440 --> 00:12:53,360 Speaker 1: on January nineteen sixty seven. Those three locations were Washington, 198 00:12:53,480 --> 00:12:57,480 Speaker 1: d C. In the United States, London in England, and 199 00:12:57,600 --> 00:13:02,400 Speaker 1: Moscow in the Soviet Union. Like the earlier resolutions, the 200 00:13:02,440 --> 00:13:06,800 Speaker 1: Outer Space Treaty largely lays out general rules for space exploration, 201 00:13:07,200 --> 00:13:11,360 Speaker 1: with the focus on peaceful applications that benefit all of humanity, 202 00:13:11,520 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 1: rather than space exploring nations hoarding knowledge and resources just 203 00:13:15,280 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: for their grubby, own little selves. It also laid out 204 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,400 Speaker 1: general rules that no one can claim any part of 205 00:13:22,440 --> 00:13:24,880 Speaker 1: space as part of the nation. You can't, you know, 206 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:28,240 Speaker 1: map out a sector of space and say this belongs 207 00:13:28,280 --> 00:13:32,360 Speaker 1: to Germany, or I claim the Moon for Luxembourg. I mean, 208 00:13:32,400 --> 00:13:34,640 Speaker 1: you could say it, but if you sign the treaty, 209 00:13:34,640 --> 00:13:37,080 Speaker 1: everyone would give you mad side eyed and say bro 210 00:13:37,240 --> 00:13:40,720 Speaker 1: for reals, non reality. There would be a lot of 211 00:13:40,720 --> 00:13:44,400 Speaker 1: pressure here on Earth, and not just atmospheric pressure, so 212 00:13:44,840 --> 00:13:47,360 Speaker 1: they would say, you know, just play nice, don't don't 213 00:13:47,520 --> 00:13:50,679 Speaker 1: do that. Also, claiming any part of space would be 214 00:13:50,800 --> 00:13:53,960 Speaker 1: really hard to back up. But then this treaty was 215 00:13:54,000 --> 00:13:56,840 Speaker 1: made in part as an effort to prevent potential conflicts 216 00:13:56,840 --> 00:14:00,439 Speaker 1: in the future, rather than as a response to a 217 00:14:00,520 --> 00:14:05,439 Speaker 1: current crisis, so this was kind of future proofing space exploration. Now, 218 00:14:05,440 --> 00:14:10,079 Speaker 1: there are seventeen articles in that Outer Space Treaty, and 219 00:14:10,120 --> 00:14:13,880 Speaker 1: I'm going to summarize them quickly just give you an 220 00:14:13,880 --> 00:14:17,240 Speaker 1: overview of which what each one is. So the first 221 00:14:17,559 --> 00:14:20,360 Speaker 1: is that bit I talked about where space exploration results 222 00:14:20,600 --> 00:14:24,720 Speaker 1: should be done with the goal of benefiting all peoples 223 00:14:24,840 --> 00:14:27,640 Speaker 1: of all countries, whether or not those countries are in 224 00:14:27,680 --> 00:14:31,560 Speaker 1: the space exploration biz. Second is the bit that says 225 00:14:31,600 --> 00:14:34,880 Speaker 1: no nation can claim sovereignty over any part of space. 226 00:14:34,920 --> 00:14:38,960 Speaker 1: That's article too. The third is that space exploration should 227 00:14:39,000 --> 00:14:42,880 Speaker 1: be conducted within the parameters of established international laws. So, 228 00:14:42,920 --> 00:14:45,360 Speaker 1: in other words, if it's illegal in the middle of 229 00:14:45,400 --> 00:14:48,600 Speaker 1: the ocean, where no single nation really has dominion, it 230 00:14:48,640 --> 00:14:51,880 Speaker 1: would also be illegal in space. The next article says 231 00:14:51,920 --> 00:14:55,560 Speaker 1: putting nuclear weapons or any other weapons of mass destruction 232 00:14:55,600 --> 00:14:59,280 Speaker 1: in orbit around Earth is a big no no. You're 233 00:14:59,280 --> 00:15:02,800 Speaker 1: also not allowed to put military installations on celestial bodies 234 00:15:02,840 --> 00:15:06,040 Speaker 1: like the Moon. And then the next article states that 235 00:15:06,200 --> 00:15:09,840 Speaker 1: astronauts are envoys for all of humanity and that should 236 00:15:09,880 --> 00:15:15,160 Speaker 1: an astronaut need emergency assistance, any capable country should agree 237 00:15:15,200 --> 00:15:18,920 Speaker 1: to help, regardless of where the astronaut is from back 238 00:15:18,960 --> 00:15:22,360 Speaker 1: on Earth. So, in other words, if if a Soviet 239 00:15:22,400 --> 00:15:28,360 Speaker 1: cosmonaut were in danger, then and an American crew had 240 00:15:28,440 --> 00:15:31,840 Speaker 1: the opportunity to help, the cosmonaut, it would be the 241 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:36,720 Speaker 1: responsibility of the Americans to lend that help, regardless of 242 00:15:36,720 --> 00:15:39,360 Speaker 1: whether or not the political tensions between the United States 243 00:15:39,400 --> 00:15:43,040 Speaker 1: and the USSR were, you know, at all time high. 244 00:15:43,320 --> 00:15:47,440 Speaker 1: Article six says that countries will be held responsible for 245 00:15:47,520 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: any activities they conduct in outer space, whether those come 246 00:15:51,160 --> 00:15:55,640 Speaker 1: from a government origin or from a non governmental entity 247 00:15:55,720 --> 00:15:59,760 Speaker 1: within the country. So, in other words, if a company 248 00:15:59,800 --> 00:16:02,520 Speaker 1: like Coca Cola were to install nuclear weapons on the 249 00:16:02,560 --> 00:16:05,040 Speaker 1: Moon as part of the Cola Wars, you know, they 250 00:16:05,120 --> 00:16:08,040 Speaker 1: really ramped up, the United States would be held accountable 251 00:16:08,040 --> 00:16:11,400 Speaker 1: for that transgression because Coca Cola's headquarters are right down 252 00:16:11,440 --> 00:16:15,760 Speaker 1: the street for me. Seven. Article seven states that if 253 00:16:15,760 --> 00:16:18,720 Speaker 1: you launch something and in the process of the launch 254 00:16:18,760 --> 00:16:23,000 Speaker 1: you cause damage to some other country, it's tots your 255 00:16:23,040 --> 00:16:27,080 Speaker 1: fault and you need to exchange insurance information. Article eight 256 00:16:27,320 --> 00:16:31,000 Speaker 1: is that if you launch it into space, that thing 257 00:16:31,160 --> 00:16:33,480 Speaker 1: is yours. It belongs to you, and it doesn't matter 258 00:16:33,520 --> 00:16:37,320 Speaker 1: how far away it gets from you. If it goes 259 00:16:37,400 --> 00:16:40,440 Speaker 1: out of the Solar System, it still belongs to you. 260 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:45,160 Speaker 1: Article nine says that all nations agreed to explore space responsibly, 261 00:16:45,440 --> 00:16:48,960 Speaker 1: taking care not to interfere with any other nations activities 262 00:16:48,960 --> 00:16:53,240 Speaker 1: in space as well as avoid bringing potentially contaminating material 263 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:55,920 Speaker 1: back to Earth. So essentially, this is like I'm drawing 264 00:16:55,960 --> 00:16:58,080 Speaker 1: a line down the middle of space, and that side 265 00:16:58,120 --> 00:17:00,920 Speaker 1: is yours and this side is mine. Not not so 266 00:17:01,000 --> 00:17:03,760 Speaker 1: much that, but more like, here's a little imaginary border 267 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:06,240 Speaker 1: around what I'm doing. Please don't go across it because 268 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:09,560 Speaker 1: you might hurt what's going on, and everyone's supposed to, 269 00:17:09,640 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: you know, kind of agree to that. All right, So 270 00:17:12,760 --> 00:17:15,399 Speaker 1: we're about halfway through the articles, but I think I 271 00:17:15,440 --> 00:17:19,400 Speaker 1: need to drink some tang. That's a space joke, So 272 00:17:19,560 --> 00:17:30,199 Speaker 1: let's take a quick break. All right. We're up to 273 00:17:30,480 --> 00:17:35,040 Speaker 1: Article ten of the nineteen sixty seven Space Treaty that 274 00:17:35,080 --> 00:17:39,560 Speaker 1: one says that space exploring nations shall quote consider, on 275 00:17:39,640 --> 00:17:43,119 Speaker 1: a basis of equality, any requests by any other states 276 00:17:43,200 --> 00:17:46,520 Speaker 1: parties to the Treaty to be afforded an opportunity to 277 00:17:46,600 --> 00:17:50,520 Speaker 1: observe the flight of space objects launched by those states 278 00:17:50,640 --> 00:17:53,480 Speaker 1: end quote. In other words, to share expertise when it 279 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,119 Speaker 1: comes to stuff like spacecraft flying through and stuff. You 280 00:17:57,440 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: can't prevent other countries from serving what you're doing. It's 281 00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:05,200 Speaker 1: kind of a transparency argument. Article eleven This one says 282 00:18:05,240 --> 00:18:08,600 Speaker 1: that nations should share the results of their space exploration 283 00:18:08,640 --> 00:18:12,000 Speaker 1: work with the Secretary General of the United Nations, who 284 00:18:12,000 --> 00:18:15,639 Speaker 1: then has a responsibility to disseminate that information to the 285 00:18:15,640 --> 00:18:18,639 Speaker 1: other nations that are within the u N. So essentially saying, 286 00:18:19,000 --> 00:18:21,240 Speaker 1: if you learn something cool, you've got to share it 287 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:24,200 Speaker 1: with the rest of the class. Article twelve says that 288 00:18:24,280 --> 00:18:27,560 Speaker 1: if a nation allows members of another nation into their 289 00:18:27,760 --> 00:18:31,679 Speaker 1: space stuff in outer space, it's expected that the visitor 290 00:18:31,800 --> 00:18:35,719 Speaker 1: will extend the same courtesy to the host reciprocity. In 291 00:18:35,720 --> 00:18:39,360 Speaker 1: other words, Article thirteen covers cases in which there may 292 00:18:39,359 --> 00:18:43,760 Speaker 1: be an international inter governmental organization or a group of 293 00:18:43,840 --> 00:18:47,480 Speaker 1: organizations working together, and how to resolve any questions or 294 00:18:47,560 --> 00:18:51,479 Speaker 1: issues between these should they come up. The actual wording 295 00:18:51,520 --> 00:18:53,720 Speaker 1: is a bit clunky, but essentially tries to create a 296 00:18:53,760 --> 00:18:57,840 Speaker 1: way to work out any issues before they graduate from 297 00:18:57,840 --> 00:19:02,040 Speaker 1: issues and become full blown problems. Article fourteen just covers 298 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:05,320 Speaker 1: the process of signing the treaty, saying that even if 299 00:19:05,320 --> 00:19:08,760 Speaker 1: a state doesn't sign the treaty before it's enforced, it 300 00:19:08,800 --> 00:19:12,560 Speaker 1: can join at any point afterwards, so it's no sweat 301 00:19:12,600 --> 00:19:15,640 Speaker 1: if you couldn't hoof it to Washington Moscow or London, 302 00:19:15,760 --> 00:19:20,000 Speaker 1: you can sign it later. Fifteen says that any state 303 00:19:20,080 --> 00:19:23,400 Speaker 1: that signs the treaty may propose amendments to the treaty. 304 00:19:24,040 --> 00:19:27,640 Speaker 1: Article sixteen says the nation can withdraw from the treaty, 305 00:19:27,680 --> 00:19:30,400 Speaker 1: but only after the treaty has been in force for 306 00:19:30,480 --> 00:19:33,320 Speaker 1: a full year. So after it's been signed by enough 307 00:19:33,359 --> 00:19:37,280 Speaker 1: signatories to be put in force, you could wait a year. 308 00:19:37,640 --> 00:19:41,960 Speaker 1: Then you could announce your intention to withdraw from the treaty, 309 00:19:42,000 --> 00:19:44,840 Speaker 1: and the date of actual withdrawal would be a another 310 00:19:44,960 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: year from the date of request. So, in other words, 311 00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:51,040 Speaker 1: the very earliest you could back out after you signed 312 00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:53,399 Speaker 1: the treaty would be two years after the treaty was 313 00:19:53,440 --> 00:19:57,320 Speaker 1: actually put into force. And finally, Article seventeen covers how 314 00:19:57,400 --> 00:20:01,520 Speaker 1: the treaty is made available in various languages and locations 315 00:20:01,560 --> 00:20:05,600 Speaker 1: and authenticated so that the nations of the United Nations 316 00:20:05,600 --> 00:20:07,760 Speaker 1: can actually read the ding dang durn thing. It's just 317 00:20:08,080 --> 00:20:11,080 Speaker 1: like here's where it lives kind of deal. Now, since 318 00:20:11,119 --> 00:20:13,560 Speaker 1: the U N entered the treaty into force, more than 319 00:20:13,640 --> 00:20:17,600 Speaker 1: one nations have signed it, and politics being what they are, 320 00:20:17,840 --> 00:20:21,560 Speaker 1: some of the nations that had signed it are, you know, 321 00:20:22,160 --> 00:20:26,240 Speaker 1: no longer nations Today, it's changed, and some nations that 322 00:20:26,400 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: have signed it didn't exist as sovereign nations at least 323 00:20:30,359 --> 00:20:34,040 Speaker 1: back in ninety seven. So I guess the fluid nature 324 00:20:34,080 --> 00:20:37,120 Speaker 1: of humanity points to why the treaty was a good 325 00:20:37,160 --> 00:20:40,160 Speaker 1: idea in the first place. The u N would consider 326 00:20:40,200 --> 00:20:44,600 Speaker 1: subsequent rules for space exploration to expand on this space 327 00:20:44,640 --> 00:20:47,399 Speaker 1: Treaty in the following years. Some of those would be 328 00:20:47,480 --> 00:20:52,440 Speaker 1: ratified by space exploring nations and some were not. For example, 329 00:20:52,880 --> 00:20:56,840 Speaker 1: there's the Agreement governing the Activities of States on the 330 00:20:56,880 --> 00:21:00,520 Speaker 1: Moon and other celestial bodies, also known as just the 331 00:21:00,520 --> 00:21:04,359 Speaker 1: Moon Agreement, which the u N opened for signatures in 332 00:21:04,480 --> 00:21:08,280 Speaker 1: December of nineteen seventy nine. It took several years for 333 00:21:08,320 --> 00:21:11,240 Speaker 1: the measure to receive the five signatures it would need 334 00:21:11,280 --> 00:21:14,720 Speaker 1: to enter into force, with Austria being the fifth in July. 335 00:21:16,520 --> 00:21:20,320 Speaker 1: Since its introduction, no nation that has actually sent missions, 336 00:21:20,960 --> 00:21:24,320 Speaker 1: manned or otherwise to the Moon at least successfully has 337 00:21:24,359 --> 00:21:27,960 Speaker 1: signed on. That means that while the treaty has entered 338 00:21:28,000 --> 00:21:31,720 Speaker 1: into force, none of the countries that are actually sending 339 00:21:31,720 --> 00:21:35,439 Speaker 1: stuff to the Moon have signed onto that part that 340 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:40,200 Speaker 1: particular agreement, which makes it largely meaningless. Though, I should 341 00:21:40,200 --> 00:21:43,800 Speaker 1: point out that India, which does have a space program 342 00:21:43,960 --> 00:21:47,439 Speaker 1: but has failed in a recent attempt to send a 343 00:21:47,720 --> 00:21:51,840 Speaker 1: lunar mission, did sign it, or is at least participating 344 00:21:51,840 --> 00:21:55,159 Speaker 1: in the agreement, but has not as of yet ratified 345 00:21:55,200 --> 00:21:59,960 Speaker 1: the agreement. So why is that? Why are the country 346 00:22:00,000 --> 00:22:02,520 Speaker 1: reads that actually are sending stuff to the Moon. Why 347 00:22:02,560 --> 00:22:07,000 Speaker 1: have they not signed on with this agreement that's been 348 00:22:07,560 --> 00:22:11,439 Speaker 1: available since nineteen nine. Well, many of the provisions of 349 00:22:11,440 --> 00:22:13,960 Speaker 1: the agreement kind of fall in line with the older 350 00:22:14,000 --> 00:22:16,960 Speaker 1: Space Treaty, you know, it's more of the same, but 351 00:22:17,000 --> 00:22:19,560 Speaker 1: they extend it to not just the Moon but also 352 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:23,360 Speaker 1: lunar orbit. Now, if I'm reading the original treaty correctly, 353 00:22:23,400 --> 00:22:26,479 Speaker 1: I think you could reasonably argue that lunar orbit counts 354 00:22:26,480 --> 00:22:30,400 Speaker 1: as space. Therefore prohibiting stuff like the deployment of nuclear 355 00:22:30,440 --> 00:22:34,600 Speaker 1: weapons and lunar orbit is somewhat redundant, because the original 356 00:22:34,600 --> 00:22:37,360 Speaker 1: treaty says you're not supposed to do that in space period. 357 00:22:38,119 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: But my point being that the Moon Agreement was making 358 00:22:41,040 --> 00:22:42,919 Speaker 1: a point of saying the Moon is not to be 359 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:48,680 Speaker 1: weaponized or leveraged for militaristic purposes. Perhaps Article seven of 360 00:22:48,720 --> 00:22:52,000 Speaker 1: the Moon agreement is where actual nations that had been 361 00:22:52,040 --> 00:22:57,719 Speaker 1: sending lunar missions started to feel a reluctance to sign on. 362 00:22:58,280 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: That article states the countries sending up Moon missions quote 363 00:23:02,119 --> 00:23:05,680 Speaker 1: shall take measures to prevent the disruption of the existing 364 00:23:05,720 --> 00:23:09,639 Speaker 1: balance of its environment end quote, which might be seen 365 00:23:09,800 --> 00:23:12,280 Speaker 1: as too great a limitation by some nations that are 366 00:23:12,400 --> 00:23:16,600 Speaker 1: determined to exploit the Moon's resources. But I really think 367 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:21,240 Speaker 1: it was Article eleven that did it. That article states, quote, 368 00:23:21,480 --> 00:23:25,000 Speaker 1: the Moon and its natural resources are the common heritage 369 00:23:25,040 --> 00:23:28,919 Speaker 1: of mankind, which finds its expression in the provisions of 370 00:23:28,960 --> 00:23:31,920 Speaker 1: this agreement end quote. And then it goes on to say, 371 00:23:32,000 --> 00:23:35,520 Speaker 1: quote neither the surface nor the subsurface of the Moon, 372 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,320 Speaker 1: nor any part thereof, or natural resources in place, shall 373 00:23:39,400 --> 00:23:44,159 Speaker 1: become property of any state, international, in, inter governmental or 374 00:23:44,280 --> 00:23:50,439 Speaker 1: non governmental organization, notational organization, or non governmental entity, or 375 00:23:50,520 --> 00:23:55,080 Speaker 1: of any natural person end quote. So, in other words, 376 00:23:55,359 --> 00:23:59,639 Speaker 1: while the agreement doesn't expressly forbid mining the Moon for resources, 377 00:24:00,040 --> 00:24:03,159 Speaker 1: the agreement calls for those resources to not belong to 378 00:24:03,240 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: any one company, person, or nation. You know, it doesn't 379 00:24:06,440 --> 00:24:09,240 Speaker 1: matter who dug it up. It doesn't belong to them. 380 00:24:09,320 --> 00:24:12,679 Speaker 1: It rather belongs to humankind. The article goes on to 381 00:24:12,720 --> 00:24:17,200 Speaker 1: propose an international body that would determine how such resources 382 00:24:17,400 --> 00:24:20,720 Speaker 1: might be put to any use. And I'm guessing that's 383 00:24:20,720 --> 00:24:22,600 Speaker 1: where a lot of the countries that were sending up 384 00:24:22,640 --> 00:24:27,440 Speaker 1: missions to the Moon said, yeah, no thanks, but hey, 385 00:24:27,440 --> 00:24:30,320 Speaker 1: what the heck is up there anyway? I mean, what 386 00:24:30,560 --> 00:24:35,240 Speaker 1: resources could possibly be on the Moon apart from dust 387 00:24:35,359 --> 00:24:38,520 Speaker 1: and some moon rocks, And why would we want to 388 00:24:38,600 --> 00:24:41,639 Speaker 1: spend the resources and incur the risks of such a 389 00:24:41,640 --> 00:24:45,480 Speaker 1: complicated operation in the first place. Well as the m 390 00:24:45,520 --> 00:24:48,600 Speaker 1: I T Technology Review put it in an article titled 391 00:24:48,880 --> 00:24:51,480 Speaker 1: Here's how we could mind the Moon for rocket fuel? 392 00:24:52,040 --> 00:24:54,879 Speaker 1: As a spoiler alert right there, that article published on 393 00:24:54,960 --> 00:24:58,840 Speaker 1: May ninety they said, quote, the Moon is a treasure 394 00:24:58,880 --> 00:25:03,320 Speaker 1: trove of value bowl resources, gold, platinum, and many rare 395 00:25:03,400 --> 00:25:07,360 Speaker 1: earth metals await extraction to be used in next generation electronics. 396 00:25:07,880 --> 00:25:12,680 Speaker 1: Non radioactive helium three could one day power nuclear fusion reactors. 397 00:25:12,800 --> 00:25:15,159 Speaker 1: End quote. Now, it sounds as though a lot of 398 00:25:15,160 --> 00:25:17,720 Speaker 1: those resources would be ones that we would want to 399 00:25:17,800 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: harvest from the Moon and then bring back to Earth, 400 00:25:21,119 --> 00:25:23,680 Speaker 1: though we have to keep in mind that that approach 401 00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:27,479 Speaker 1: would be outrageously expensive. It would need to be a 402 00:25:27,560 --> 00:25:33,440 Speaker 1: truly remarkable return, like the mother load of all mother loads, 403 00:25:33,480 --> 00:25:36,920 Speaker 1: to make this a viable alternative to just mining those 404 00:25:36,960 --> 00:25:40,160 Speaker 1: same resources here on Earth. Even if the resources are 405 00:25:40,240 --> 00:25:43,520 Speaker 1: far less plentiful on Earth, we don't have to go 406 00:25:43,560 --> 00:25:47,919 Speaker 1: into space to mind them, right, or we would have 407 00:25:47,960 --> 00:25:51,120 Speaker 1: to reach a pretty bleak point where the resources here 408 00:25:51,119 --> 00:25:54,480 Speaker 1: on Earth are so incredibly difficult to access or are 409 00:25:54,520 --> 00:26:00,560 Speaker 1: so incredibly rare that it necessitates the risk of acquiring 410 00:26:00,600 --> 00:26:05,000 Speaker 1: those same things off planet. But that's that's a big 411 00:26:05,040 --> 00:26:08,240 Speaker 1: bar that you have to meet. But the most precious 412 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:11,080 Speaker 1: resource in the long run is the one that we 413 00:26:11,160 --> 00:26:14,480 Speaker 1: have a lot of here on Earth, and that's water. 414 00:26:14,760 --> 00:26:18,959 Speaker 1: I mean, like our planet's surfaces covered with the stuff. 415 00:26:19,000 --> 00:26:22,560 Speaker 1: But it's really precious on the Moon. And that's because 416 00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:25,600 Speaker 1: we all know that water is made out of hydrogen 417 00:26:25,640 --> 00:26:29,200 Speaker 1: and oxygen, right. Well, if you split water molecules apart 418 00:26:29,400 --> 00:26:32,919 Speaker 1: so that you harvest the hydrogen and the oxygen, and 419 00:26:32,920 --> 00:26:36,920 Speaker 1: then you liquefy both the hydrogen and the oxygen, you've 420 00:26:36,960 --> 00:26:39,920 Speaker 1: got yourself some rocket fuel. Not to mention, you could 421 00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:43,280 Speaker 1: also harvest oxygen so that you have you know, oxygen, 422 00:26:43,320 --> 00:26:45,280 Speaker 1: the stuff we need to breathe, and as I've been 423 00:26:45,280 --> 00:26:47,119 Speaker 1: told there's not a whole lot of that out and 424 00:26:47,119 --> 00:26:51,760 Speaker 1: outer space, so being able to make oxygen for the 425 00:26:51,800 --> 00:26:55,159 Speaker 1: purposes of life support would be really helpful. Uh. And 426 00:26:55,200 --> 00:26:57,959 Speaker 1: obviously this would be an enormous benefit for any mission 427 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:01,359 Speaker 1: that aims to explore our Solar System or beyond while 428 00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:05,240 Speaker 1: relying on stuff like rocket propulsion, right, because by making 429 00:27:05,359 --> 00:27:08,960 Speaker 1: rocket fuel on the Moon or within lunar orbit, we 430 00:27:09,000 --> 00:27:13,199 Speaker 1: could create refueling stations. So imagine a station that's in 431 00:27:13,359 --> 00:27:17,520 Speaker 1: lunar orbit and spacecraft from the Moon are bringing fresh 432 00:27:17,560 --> 00:27:21,800 Speaker 1: supplies of rocket fuel to this. This lunar orbit station, 433 00:27:21,960 --> 00:27:25,240 Speaker 1: or maybe the station itself is a processing facility. It's 434 00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:28,840 Speaker 1: just taking in the raw oxygen and raw hydrogen and 435 00:27:28,880 --> 00:27:33,280 Speaker 1: making rocket fuel there. Meanwhile, spacecraft from Earth will swing 436 00:27:33,400 --> 00:27:36,879 Speaker 1: by the Moon for a refuel before they head off 437 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:39,840 Speaker 1: somewhere else like Mars or whatever. It would mean that 438 00:27:39,880 --> 00:27:43,040 Speaker 1: we wouldn't have to load down the spacecraft on Earth 439 00:27:43,480 --> 00:27:46,560 Speaker 1: with so much fuel. We would only need enough fuel 440 00:27:46,680 --> 00:27:50,000 Speaker 1: to launch it off the planet and send it to 441 00:27:50,040 --> 00:27:53,879 Speaker 1: the Moon for its refueling. And that's great because fuel 442 00:27:53,960 --> 00:27:56,720 Speaker 1: is heavy stuff, and as we add fuel to a 443 00:27:56,760 --> 00:28:00,240 Speaker 1: spacecraft here on Earth, we increase the overall weight of 444 00:28:00,280 --> 00:28:02,359 Speaker 1: the spacecraft, which in turn means that we need to 445 00:28:02,400 --> 00:28:04,639 Speaker 1: make sure that we have enough fuel to get not 446 00:28:04,760 --> 00:28:07,040 Speaker 1: just the spacecraft, but all the fuel that's carrying up 447 00:28:07,040 --> 00:28:10,080 Speaker 1: into space. This is a really delicate balancing act. We 448 00:28:10,119 --> 00:28:12,480 Speaker 1: need enough fuel to get to where we're going, but 449 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:15,320 Speaker 1: it's not just as simple as adding a few thousand 450 00:28:15,359 --> 00:28:18,000 Speaker 1: gallons here or there, because that added weight changes the 451 00:28:18,080 --> 00:28:21,159 Speaker 1: requirements we face to get something into space in the 452 00:28:21,160 --> 00:28:24,200 Speaker 1: first place. And as Austin Powers would say, oh no, 453 00:28:24,560 --> 00:28:28,160 Speaker 1: I've gone cross eyed again, a refuel station in lunar 454 00:28:28,280 --> 00:28:31,680 Speaker 1: orbit would decrease the amount of fuel that we would 455 00:28:31,760 --> 00:28:35,000 Speaker 1: need to produce and use here on Earth per launch. 456 00:28:35,480 --> 00:28:39,800 Speaker 1: Plus rocket fuel is really expensive, so by splitting that 457 00:28:39,920 --> 00:28:43,400 Speaker 1: up between Earth and lunar operations, we might be able 458 00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,160 Speaker 1: to be more cost effective with our fuel production, depending 459 00:28:46,200 --> 00:28:49,000 Speaker 1: on how we do it, Although that could just turn 460 00:28:49,040 --> 00:28:51,640 Speaker 1: out to be just as expensive or maybe even more expensive, 461 00:28:52,160 --> 00:28:55,000 Speaker 1: but easier to do it. It's kind of hard to 462 00:28:55,040 --> 00:28:58,320 Speaker 1: say because we haven't done it yet. In addition, here 463 00:28:58,320 --> 00:29:00,680 Speaker 1: in the United States, we've seen the rise of the 464 00:29:00,760 --> 00:29:05,360 Speaker 1: private space industry, something that has become necessary as NASA, 465 00:29:05,440 --> 00:29:07,960 Speaker 1: you know, the government's funded space agency in the United 466 00:29:08,000 --> 00:29:12,800 Speaker 1: States has faced challenges in several forms, like in budget cutbacks, 467 00:29:13,240 --> 00:29:18,480 Speaker 1: failed projects, and occasional organizational problems. Moreover, while we in 468 00:29:18,520 --> 00:29:21,440 Speaker 1: the United States, at least those of us from Generation 469 00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,479 Speaker 1: X or maybe older generations, we tend to think of 470 00:29:24,480 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: space exploration as a NASA thing, the truth is that 471 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:31,959 Speaker 1: the technologies that are used in space exploration come from 472 00:29:32,160 --> 00:29:36,320 Speaker 1: hundreds of non governmental companies, you know, the private sector. 473 00:29:36,600 --> 00:29:40,000 Speaker 1: It's not like NASA has a space ship factory where 474 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,280 Speaker 1: the organization creates all the launch vehicles and spacecraft for 475 00:29:44,320 --> 00:29:48,760 Speaker 1: all the missions. You've got companies like Boeing, lockeed Raytheon, 476 00:29:49,080 --> 00:29:53,000 Speaker 1: Northrop Grumman, and many others that are building the components 477 00:29:53,000 --> 00:29:56,720 Speaker 1: and the spacecraft that NASA uses. Add to that companies 478 00:29:56,760 --> 00:30:00,440 Speaker 1: like SpaceX, and you've got a heavily involved private sector. 479 00:30:00,920 --> 00:30:04,280 Speaker 1: And most companies won't quote share the assets we create 480 00:30:04,320 --> 00:30:07,720 Speaker 1: with all of humanity and of benevolence way up in 481 00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:10,960 Speaker 1: their mission statement. That's just not you know, important to them. 482 00:30:11,240 --> 00:30:14,480 Speaker 1: Companies exist to make profit for those who run or 483 00:30:14,600 --> 00:30:18,960 Speaker 1: fund the company. So if the space industry is reliant 484 00:30:19,200 --> 00:30:22,920 Speaker 1: on these private sector entities to get things done, and 485 00:30:23,000 --> 00:30:27,200 Speaker 1: if those entities are going to be doing the heavy lifting, 486 00:30:27,480 --> 00:30:29,400 Speaker 1: I mean, even on the Moon, where gravity is just 487 00:30:29,520 --> 00:30:31,960 Speaker 1: one sixth of what we have here on Earth, then 488 00:30:32,000 --> 00:30:34,920 Speaker 1: it stands to reason that it's not likely a country 489 00:30:35,080 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: like the United States is going to agree to sign 490 00:30:37,680 --> 00:30:42,280 Speaker 1: over any resources that it harvests to some international body 491 00:30:42,320 --> 00:30:46,200 Speaker 1: that will determine how those resources can be used. And 492 00:30:46,280 --> 00:30:49,640 Speaker 1: that brings us up to a new proposal, one that 493 00:30:49,680 --> 00:30:52,560 Speaker 1: was first unveiled in the spring of twenty twenty, and 494 00:30:52,600 --> 00:30:57,080 Speaker 1: it is one proposed by NASA, has some early buy 495 00:30:57,120 --> 00:31:00,440 Speaker 1: in from a few countries and a few notable object actions, 496 00:31:00,920 --> 00:31:03,560 Speaker 1: and it's called the Artemis Accords, and I'll tell you 497 00:31:03,840 --> 00:31:15,200 Speaker 1: more about them after this quick break. In the United States, 498 00:31:15,640 --> 00:31:19,520 Speaker 1: NASA has announced plans to return to the Moon by 499 00:31:19,640 --> 00:31:24,520 Speaker 1: twenty twenty four project Artemists, and aggressive schedule to be sure, 500 00:31:25,160 --> 00:31:27,000 Speaker 1: and one that I wonder if we can make in 501 00:31:27,040 --> 00:31:30,520 Speaker 1: a world that has been largely sidetracked by the COVID pandemic. 502 00:31:31,200 --> 00:31:36,480 Speaker 1: I was skeptical we could achieve it without the COVID problem. 503 00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:40,280 Speaker 1: With the COVID problem, I'm really skeptical. Doesn't mean it's impossible, 504 00:31:41,040 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 1: but it's going to require a whole lot of work. However, 505 00:31:44,360 --> 00:31:48,000 Speaker 1: assuming that all plans are still pointing to a new 506 00:31:48,600 --> 00:31:52,080 Speaker 1: crew going to to the Moon and we would actually 507 00:31:52,080 --> 00:31:56,320 Speaker 1: see the first woman visit Earth's natural satellite on that mission, 508 00:31:56,920 --> 00:31:59,640 Speaker 1: then NASA wants to work out some rules and set 509 00:31:59,840 --> 00:32:02,520 Speaker 1: x spectations as well as create standards and things like 510 00:32:03,040 --> 00:32:06,960 Speaker 1: the equipment that we would use in lunar operations to 511 00:32:07,000 --> 00:32:12,160 Speaker 1: allow for international cooperation. Now, standards are important because everything 512 00:32:12,160 --> 00:32:15,320 Speaker 1: really needs to work well together. Think of it as 513 00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:19,000 Speaker 1: being almost modular, like the International Space Station was designed 514 00:32:19,000 --> 00:32:21,880 Speaker 1: in such a way. So one obvious example of why 515 00:32:21,920 --> 00:32:25,240 Speaker 1: this is important would be docking mechanisms. It's important to 516 00:32:25,280 --> 00:32:29,440 Speaker 1: standardize them so that any two spacecraft, no matter where 517 00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:31,960 Speaker 1: they are from or who built them, would be able 518 00:32:32,000 --> 00:32:35,280 Speaker 1: to dock with one another safely and securely so that 519 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:38,880 Speaker 1: they could you know, share resources or or do a 520 00:32:39,000 --> 00:32:43,080 Speaker 1: rescue operation or whatever it may be. But as Christopher Johnson, 521 00:32:43,400 --> 00:32:47,680 Speaker 1: a space law advisor, and you know how cool is 522 00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:51,760 Speaker 1: that title. But as Christopher Johnson has said, quote, We're 523 00:32:51,840 --> 00:32:54,800 Speaker 1: not going to wait to negotiate a treaty that we 524 00:32:54,880 --> 00:32:58,120 Speaker 1: think is in our national interest end quote, we being 525 00:32:58,400 --> 00:33:02,160 Speaker 1: the United States. See treaties take a lot of time 526 00:33:02,760 --> 00:33:05,640 Speaker 1: because you've got so many different parties that are involved 527 00:33:05,680 --> 00:33:09,040 Speaker 1: that might object to one part over another, and then 528 00:33:09,080 --> 00:33:12,440 Speaker 1: you have to amend it and you know, end up 529 00:33:12,600 --> 00:33:14,720 Speaker 1: showing it to everybody again see if there are any 530 00:33:14,720 --> 00:33:19,400 Speaker 1: other objections. And you're talking about numerous committee meetings and 531 00:33:19,520 --> 00:33:22,719 Speaker 1: drafts and approvals and ratification steps, and at the end 532 00:33:22,720 --> 00:33:26,520 Speaker 1: of that process, there's no guarantee that the outcome that 533 00:33:26,600 --> 00:33:29,520 Speaker 1: the actual treaty that's been drafted is going to be 534 00:33:29,600 --> 00:33:31,680 Speaker 1: one that the United States would agree to in the 535 00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:35,160 Speaker 1: first place. So instead, we're gonna make our own Moon 536 00:33:35,200 --> 00:33:40,840 Speaker 1: agreement with black Jack and wait, no, sorry, sorry, got 537 00:33:41,080 --> 00:33:45,400 Speaker 1: Futurama there for a second. Anyway, NASA's alternative to this, 538 00:33:45,920 --> 00:33:49,200 Speaker 1: to to waiting around for another treaty or you know, 539 00:33:49,360 --> 00:33:53,120 Speaker 1: ratifying the nineteen seventy nine Moon Agreement, happens to be 540 00:33:53,200 --> 00:33:57,760 Speaker 1: the Artemis Accords. Now, these are named after the mythological 541 00:33:57,920 --> 00:34:01,400 Speaker 1: artemists twin sister to a follow the Goddess of the 542 00:34:01,440 --> 00:34:03,920 Speaker 1: Moon and also Goddess of the Hunt, and lots of 543 00:34:03,960 --> 00:34:09,759 Speaker 1: other stuff. NASA unveiled these accords on May twenty. The 544 00:34:09,800 --> 00:34:13,600 Speaker 1: actual signing of the accords happened in October twenty twenty. 545 00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,799 Speaker 1: More on that in just a minute. The subtitle for 546 00:34:16,920 --> 00:34:21,239 Speaker 1: the accords is Principles for Cooperation in the Civil Exploration 547 00:34:21,280 --> 00:34:25,480 Speaker 1: and Use of the Moon, Mars, Comets and Asteroids for 548 00:34:25,600 --> 00:34:29,600 Speaker 1: Peaceful Purposes. So already you can see that this appears 549 00:34:29,640 --> 00:34:33,880 Speaker 1: to be treading, you know, familiar ground or regulars I guess, 550 00:34:34,560 --> 00:34:38,360 Speaker 1: as the Moon Agreement from the United Nations and the 551 00:34:38,400 --> 00:34:41,879 Speaker 1: Treaty Outer Space Treaty before that. But there are some 552 00:34:41,920 --> 00:34:45,839 Speaker 1: important differences, the big one being about all that exploitation 553 00:34:45,880 --> 00:34:48,080 Speaker 1: of resources. But I'll get to that in a second. 554 00:34:48,239 --> 00:34:51,640 Speaker 1: So the accords state that quote the principles set out 555 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:54,400 Speaker 1: in these Accords are intended to apply to civil space 556 00:34:54,440 --> 00:34:59,080 Speaker 1: activities conducted by the civil space agencies of each signatory. 557 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:03,320 Speaker 1: These activities may take place on the Moon, Mars, comets 558 00:35:03,320 --> 00:35:08,359 Speaker 1: and asteroids, including their surfaces and subsurfaces, as well as 559 00:35:08,440 --> 00:35:12,040 Speaker 1: in orbit of the Moon or Mars, in the Lagrangian 560 00:35:12,239 --> 00:35:15,880 Speaker 1: points for the Earth Moon system, and in transit between 561 00:35:15,960 --> 00:35:20,560 Speaker 1: these celestial bodies and locations. End quote. Now, the accords 562 00:35:20,600 --> 00:35:23,359 Speaker 1: have some sections that are pretty much in alignment with 563 00:35:23,480 --> 00:35:26,319 Speaker 1: the articles, or at least some of the articles from 564 00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:29,960 Speaker 1: the Outer Space treaty. There are sections about releasing scientific 565 00:35:30,040 --> 00:35:33,560 Speaker 1: data gathered during experiments in order to benefit all of humanity. 566 00:35:33,640 --> 00:35:37,759 Speaker 1: For example, there's also a section that stresses the importance 567 00:35:37,760 --> 00:35:40,840 Speaker 1: of all activities on the Moon and Mars, etcetera, should 568 00:35:40,920 --> 00:35:45,280 Speaker 1: be for peaceful purposes. There's another section that's about keeping 569 00:35:45,760 --> 00:35:50,160 Speaker 1: outer space heritage such as moon landing sites safe, as 570 00:35:50,239 --> 00:35:54,480 Speaker 1: these are records of important historical events. But then we 571 00:35:54,560 --> 00:36:00,200 Speaker 1: get to section ten space resources. Under Section ten ub 572 00:36:00,200 --> 00:36:05,360 Speaker 1: section two, we get the following passage quote, the signatories 573 00:36:05,400 --> 00:36:10,000 Speaker 1: affirm that the extraction of space resources does not inherently 574 00:36:10,200 --> 00:36:15,480 Speaker 1: constitute national appropriation under Article two of the Outer Space Treaty, 575 00:36:15,520 --> 00:36:18,760 Speaker 1: and that contracts and other legal instruments related to space 576 00:36:18,800 --> 00:36:24,040 Speaker 1: resources should be consistent with that treaty end quote. Now, 577 00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:26,640 Speaker 1: if we dip back to Article two of the other 578 00:36:26,760 --> 00:36:29,359 Speaker 1: Space Treaty, that's the one that says no one can 579 00:36:29,400 --> 00:36:33,520 Speaker 1: claim a part of space as belonging to any particular 580 00:36:33,680 --> 00:36:37,800 Speaker 1: nation or entity. So, in a way, the accords liken 581 00:36:37,920 --> 00:36:42,440 Speaker 1: the extraction of resources in space to what we do 582 00:36:42,520 --> 00:36:47,560 Speaker 1: with oceans. So nations can extract resources from otions, even 583 00:36:47,600 --> 00:36:51,640 Speaker 1: into international waters. You can do that to an extent anyway, 584 00:36:51,880 --> 00:36:56,080 Speaker 1: but no nation can claim the oceans for its own. Likewise, 585 00:36:56,120 --> 00:36:58,759 Speaker 1: the accords allow for a little more wiggle room. You 586 00:36:58,800 --> 00:37:03,160 Speaker 1: can't claim the Moon, for example, but you could claim 587 00:37:03,239 --> 00:37:06,800 Speaker 1: the stuff you mine from the Moon. Since the U 588 00:37:06,960 --> 00:37:10,080 Speaker 1: n's Moon Agreement has only a few signatories on it, 589 00:37:10,120 --> 00:37:13,120 Speaker 1: and only one of those has ever attempted a lunar mission, 590 00:37:13,320 --> 00:37:17,359 Speaker 1: and that one failed, the Artemis Accords could become a 591 00:37:17,440 --> 00:37:22,120 Speaker 1: real set of standards for lunar exploration and exploitation, as 592 00:37:22,200 --> 00:37:25,880 Speaker 1: well as the principles for mining mars and asteroids and 593 00:37:25,920 --> 00:37:30,200 Speaker 1: comments and whatnot. Eight nations have signed the Accords in 594 00:37:30,239 --> 00:37:38,839 Speaker 1: October as founding members. They are, in alphabetical order, Australia, Canada, Italy, Japan, Luxembourg, 595 00:37:39,120 --> 00:37:45,359 Speaker 1: United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, and the United States of America. Interestingly, 596 00:37:45,560 --> 00:37:49,080 Speaker 1: Australia was also a party to the Moon Agreement, though 597 00:37:49,120 --> 00:37:52,719 Speaker 1: not a signatory. NASA plans to add more nations to 598 00:37:52,719 --> 00:37:55,640 Speaker 1: the Accords over time, having them sign on. But there 599 00:37:55,640 --> 00:37:58,920 Speaker 1: are a couple of glaring gaps in that list that 600 00:37:59,000 --> 00:38:03,759 Speaker 1: are not likely to join anytime soon, and that is 601 00:38:03,800 --> 00:38:05,919 Speaker 1: a bit of a problem. And one of the big 602 00:38:05,960 --> 00:38:10,319 Speaker 1: ones is Russia. While it's been decades since the dissolution 603 00:38:10,360 --> 00:38:13,760 Speaker 1: of the Soviet Union, Russia has carried on the tradition 604 00:38:13,920 --> 00:38:17,520 Speaker 1: of space exploration. Heck, one of the reasons the private 605 00:38:17,560 --> 00:38:21,000 Speaker 1: space industry is so important in the United States is 606 00:38:21,040 --> 00:38:24,239 Speaker 1: that it is an alternative to depending upon Russia when 607 00:38:24,280 --> 00:38:27,560 Speaker 1: it comes to launching missions with a crew up into space. 608 00:38:28,440 --> 00:38:32,840 Speaker 1: Once the space Shuttle program ended, the United States didn't 609 00:38:32,880 --> 00:38:36,640 Speaker 1: have an alternative, and so we've had to depend upon 610 00:38:36,719 --> 00:38:41,320 Speaker 1: Russian spacecraft to get people up and back to space 611 00:38:41,640 --> 00:38:46,600 Speaker 1: and from space. But Russia did not sign the Artemis Accords, 612 00:38:46,680 --> 00:38:51,160 Speaker 1: so that ends up being an issue. Dmitri Regozzen, the 613 00:38:51,400 --> 00:38:54,960 Speaker 1: head of the Russian space program, called out the accords 614 00:38:55,000 --> 00:38:59,280 Speaker 1: for being quote to US centric end quote of NASA's 615 00:38:59,280 --> 00:39:01,600 Speaker 1: plan to return earned to the Moon in general, just 616 00:39:01,760 --> 00:39:05,600 Speaker 1: the Artemist project, not the Accords in particular. He has said, 617 00:39:05,719 --> 00:39:09,640 Speaker 1: quote with the lunar project, we are observing the departure 618 00:39:09,719 --> 00:39:13,000 Speaker 1: of our American partners from the principles of cooperation and 619 00:39:13,120 --> 00:39:17,279 Speaker 1: mutual support that developed during cooperation on the I s S, 620 00:39:17,320 --> 00:39:22,280 Speaker 1: the International Space Station. They see their program not as international, 621 00:39:22,640 --> 00:39:27,320 Speaker 1: but similar to NATO, there is America, everyone else must 622 00:39:27,360 --> 00:39:30,680 Speaker 1: help and pay to be honest, we are not interested 623 00:39:30,719 --> 00:39:34,400 Speaker 1: in participating in such a project. End quote. As for 624 00:39:34,560 --> 00:39:38,680 Speaker 1: the Artemis Accords themselves, according to the Verge, he actually 625 00:39:38,719 --> 00:39:42,360 Speaker 1: compared those to a lunar invasion in a tweet that 626 00:39:42,440 --> 00:39:47,080 Speaker 1: has since been deleted. Yikes. Now, some might dismiss the 627 00:39:47,120 --> 00:39:51,839 Speaker 1: objections of Russia as pure political posturing to be alliterative, 628 00:39:52,120 --> 00:39:55,279 Speaker 1: but I'd say Demitri is not alone in criticizing the 629 00:39:55,400 --> 00:39:59,799 Speaker 1: Artemis Accords. Uh. Aaron Bowley and Michael Buyer's Uh. Those 630 00:39:59,800 --> 00:40:02,719 Speaker 1: are two researchers. They wrote a piece for the Policy 631 00:40:02,760 --> 00:40:07,200 Speaker 1: Forum of Science magazine, and they said that the Accords 632 00:40:07,239 --> 00:40:12,040 Speaker 1: were problematic. The pieces titled U S Policy puts the 633 00:40:12,120 --> 00:40:15,799 Speaker 1: safe development of space at Risk, which kind of gives 634 00:40:15,800 --> 00:40:18,880 Speaker 1: you an indication of how they feel about this. They 635 00:40:18,920 --> 00:40:22,320 Speaker 1: state that the Accords quote, if accepted by many nations, 636 00:40:22,560 --> 00:40:25,839 Speaker 1: could enable the U S interpretation of international space law 637 00:40:25,920 --> 00:40:29,680 Speaker 1: to prevail and make the United States, as the licensing 638 00:40:29,800 --> 00:40:32,880 Speaker 1: nation for most of the world's space companies, the de 639 00:40:33,000 --> 00:40:37,520 Speaker 1: facto gatekeeper to the Moon, asteroids, and other celestial bodies 640 00:40:37,680 --> 00:40:40,640 Speaker 1: end quote. Buyers and Bulli argue that the Accords are 641 00:40:40,640 --> 00:40:43,840 Speaker 1: a thinly veiled effort to further the commercial interests of 642 00:40:43,880 --> 00:40:47,239 Speaker 1: the United States without regard for the international community or 643 00:40:47,280 --> 00:40:50,399 Speaker 1: the principles behind the Outer Space Treaty. Now, the other 644 00:40:50,520 --> 00:40:53,720 Speaker 1: big absence from the list of countries that have signed 645 00:40:53,719 --> 00:40:58,160 Speaker 1: the accords would be China. China hasn't necessarily refused to 646 00:40:58,200 --> 00:41:01,360 Speaker 1: sign the same way Russia did. I mean, the Chinese 647 00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:05,120 Speaker 1: government might very well agree with Russia's point of view, 648 00:41:05,640 --> 00:41:08,920 Speaker 1: but whether that's the case or not, it's a moot point. 649 00:41:08,960 --> 00:41:13,760 Speaker 1: Because NASA isn't allowed to engage with China. It's against 650 00:41:13,840 --> 00:41:18,680 Speaker 1: the law. See back in two, US Representative John Culberson 651 00:41:18,880 --> 00:41:23,960 Speaker 1: from Texas urged then President Barack Obama against cooperating with 652 00:41:24,120 --> 00:41:28,360 Speaker 1: China's space program. He argued that the Chinese government was 653 00:41:28,400 --> 00:41:32,480 Speaker 1: not being transparent about the goals of their space program, 654 00:41:32,520 --> 00:41:35,279 Speaker 1: and that by aiding China, the United States could be 655 00:41:35,280 --> 00:41:38,800 Speaker 1: putting itself and other nations in danger. Further down the line, 656 00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:42,920 Speaker 1: that would lead to Congress eventually proposing and passing a 657 00:41:43,040 --> 00:41:47,000 Speaker 1: law that says, quote, none of the funds made available 658 00:41:47,000 --> 00:41:50,160 Speaker 1: by this division may be used for the National Aeronautics 659 00:41:50,160 --> 00:41:53,719 Speaker 1: and Space Administration or the Office of Science and Technology 660 00:41:53,760 --> 00:41:59,480 Speaker 1: Policy to develop design plan promulgate, implement, or execute a 661 00:41:59,560 --> 00:42:04,160 Speaker 1: bile out ural policy, program, order, or contract of any kind, 662 00:42:04,280 --> 00:42:09,239 Speaker 1: to participate, collaborate, or coordinate bilaterally in any way with 663 00:42:09,360 --> 00:42:13,919 Speaker 1: China or any Chinese owned company unless such activities are 664 00:42:13,960 --> 00:42:17,440 Speaker 1: specifically authorized by a law enacted after the date of 665 00:42:17,600 --> 00:42:22,400 Speaker 1: enactment of this division end quote. So yeah, that's off limits. 666 00:42:23,000 --> 00:42:26,600 Speaker 1: NASA officials have said that the agency stands ready to 667 00:42:26,760 --> 00:42:30,680 Speaker 1: engage with China should Congress ever change this law. Ever, 668 00:42:30,880 --> 00:42:32,600 Speaker 1: you know, put a new law in place that would 669 00:42:32,600 --> 00:42:35,839 Speaker 1: allow such a thing, But that largely depends upon how 670 00:42:35,960 --> 00:42:40,200 Speaker 1: China behaves in general. And I would say that right now, 671 00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:45,160 Speaker 1: signs are not particularly positive as far as things changing 672 00:42:45,239 --> 00:42:49,080 Speaker 1: enough for Congress to reverse that previous decision. And so 673 00:42:49,200 --> 00:42:52,120 Speaker 1: there is very little chance China is going to join 674 00:42:52,200 --> 00:42:55,440 Speaker 1: the accords in the near future, and that represents a 675 00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:59,000 Speaker 1: pretty big problem. A lot of the accords focuses on 676 00:42:59,080 --> 00:43:02,680 Speaker 1: stuff like way is to avoid conflict and reducing the 677 00:43:02,760 --> 00:43:06,520 Speaker 1: chance for problems with stuff like space debris. But if 678 00:43:06,600 --> 00:43:11,440 Speaker 1: two major space powers either can't or won't sign those accords, 679 00:43:11,960 --> 00:43:15,640 Speaker 1: then it's not particularly helpful. The US might use the 680 00:43:15,680 --> 00:43:19,399 Speaker 1: accords to justify its own operations on in space kind 681 00:43:19,440 --> 00:43:23,040 Speaker 1: of a see, we're behaving by the rules that we 682 00:43:23,120 --> 00:43:26,400 Speaker 1: happen to have set up for everybody else. It's just 683 00:43:26,520 --> 00:43:29,439 Speaker 1: that not everyone agreed to play by those rules, that's all. 684 00:43:30,160 --> 00:43:33,200 Speaker 1: And I realized this comes across as being a bit cynical, 685 00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:35,520 Speaker 1: but I also think it's kind of how things are 686 00:43:35,560 --> 00:43:39,960 Speaker 1: shaking out. The reality of the situation is we've already 687 00:43:40,000 --> 00:43:43,760 Speaker 1: seen some initial steps toward a future where space mining 688 00:43:44,360 --> 00:43:46,800 Speaker 1: is a real thing, whether it's on the Moon or 689 00:43:46,880 --> 00:43:51,480 Speaker 1: asteroids or comets or Mars or whatever. In fourteen, the 690 00:43:51,640 --> 00:43:55,280 Speaker 1: Rosetta orbiter was the first man made object to soft 691 00:43:55,440 --> 00:43:59,520 Speaker 1: land on a comet nucleus. As I record this episode, 692 00:43:59,760 --> 00:44:03,240 Speaker 1: there is a spacecraft called Osiris Rex that is preparing 693 00:44:03,280 --> 00:44:06,480 Speaker 1: to touch down on an asteroid in order to gather 694 00:44:06,640 --> 00:44:10,160 Speaker 1: samples from that asteroid and then return back to Earth. 695 00:44:10,760 --> 00:44:14,520 Speaker 1: It's a NASA project. There are numerous companies that are 696 00:44:14,560 --> 00:44:18,759 Speaker 1: aiming to make asteroid mining and space mining a real industry. 697 00:44:18,800 --> 00:44:22,279 Speaker 1: They are working toward that right now, and so having 698 00:44:22,320 --> 00:44:26,080 Speaker 1: some rules seems like it would be a really good idea. 699 00:44:26,239 --> 00:44:30,520 Speaker 1: But I definitely can understand why researchers and some nations 700 00:44:30,600 --> 00:44:35,000 Speaker 1: might object to those rules coming from one specific country 701 00:44:35,040 --> 00:44:38,080 Speaker 1: and everyone else agrees to go along with it, especially 702 00:44:38,080 --> 00:44:41,839 Speaker 1: a country that has a very large vested interest in 703 00:44:41,960 --> 00:44:45,399 Speaker 1: the space industry, as opposed to an agreement that has 704 00:44:45,400 --> 00:44:50,840 Speaker 1: been arrived at through international treaty processes. Will these accords 705 00:44:50,840 --> 00:44:53,560 Speaker 1: go down in history as an agreement that led to 706 00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:59,160 Speaker 1: an unprecedented era of space exploration and exploitation, or will 707 00:44:59,239 --> 00:45:01,960 Speaker 1: they be held up as the United States attempting to 708 00:45:02,040 --> 00:45:06,480 Speaker 1: justify practices that the international community hasn't really signed off 709 00:45:06,560 --> 00:45:10,720 Speaker 1: on at large? What will Russia and China end up doing? 710 00:45:11,080 --> 00:45:15,520 Speaker 1: Is space destined to become the next Gold Rush land grab? Well, 711 00:45:15,560 --> 00:45:19,200 Speaker 1: that's exactly what treaties are supposed to prevent. Now, if 712 00:45:19,200 --> 00:45:21,560 Speaker 1: I'm being honest, I think we're gonna be in for 713 00:45:21,600 --> 00:45:24,600 Speaker 1: a few messy decades on this one unless we see 714 00:45:24,640 --> 00:45:28,560 Speaker 1: some real international cooperation on the treaty front that has 715 00:45:28,640 --> 00:45:31,719 Speaker 1: buy in from multiple states. And I just don't know 716 00:45:31,760 --> 00:45:34,920 Speaker 1: how that's gonna happen in a world where too many 717 00:45:35,160 --> 00:45:40,520 Speaker 1: parties see potential profit out in space. There's there's too 718 00:45:40,520 --> 00:45:44,919 Speaker 1: many interests that conflict with one another, So I think 719 00:45:44,960 --> 00:45:47,959 Speaker 1: it's just gonna be a rough thing to work out 720 00:45:48,480 --> 00:45:51,479 Speaker 1: and it's coming. It may not be you know, within 721 00:45:51,520 --> 00:45:54,759 Speaker 1: the next five years or so, but I'm certain within 722 00:45:54,800 --> 00:45:57,360 Speaker 1: my lifetime it's gonna end up being a bigger deal. 723 00:45:57,840 --> 00:45:59,680 Speaker 1: So I hope we can work that out well. That 724 00:45:59,760 --> 00:46:04,400 Speaker 1: rab so this episode about Space Treatise and Moon Agreements 725 00:46:04,440 --> 00:46:08,920 Speaker 1: and Artemis Accords, and it really does tie back into technology, 726 00:46:08,960 --> 00:46:11,719 Speaker 1: and in multiple ways, not just the technology that requires 727 00:46:11,760 --> 00:46:14,120 Speaker 1: us to get out there and make this stuff happen, 728 00:46:14,600 --> 00:46:18,319 Speaker 1: you know, to have like a viable mining operation or 729 00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:22,719 Speaker 1: lunar you know, base or whatever. It also ties back 730 00:46:22,760 --> 00:46:25,799 Speaker 1: in because the resources we might mind, some of those 731 00:46:25,920 --> 00:46:28,960 Speaker 1: might come back to Earth and end up being part 732 00:46:29,080 --> 00:46:32,439 Speaker 1: of the next generation of technological gadgets we depend upon, 733 00:46:32,960 --> 00:46:35,600 Speaker 1: and it helps us get around things like the problems 734 00:46:35,640 --> 00:46:40,239 Speaker 1: we find with rare earth metals, although honestly, the real 735 00:46:40,320 --> 00:46:43,600 Speaker 1: pub problem with rare earth metals isn't necessarily their scarcity 736 00:46:43,719 --> 00:46:47,279 Speaker 1: so much as the ethics behind it. But that's a 737 00:46:47,560 --> 00:46:52,120 Speaker 1: that's a topic for another episode entirely. As for this one, 738 00:46:52,200 --> 00:46:54,240 Speaker 1: it's time for me to sign off. If you guys 739 00:46:54,239 --> 00:46:57,320 Speaker 1: have any suggestions for future topics of tech stuff, please 740 00:46:57,320 --> 00:46:59,400 Speaker 1: reach out and let me know. The best way is 741 00:46:59,440 --> 00:47:02,400 Speaker 1: to do that on Twitter and they handle is text 742 00:47:02,400 --> 00:47:05,680 Speaker 1: stuff h s W and I'll talk to you again 743 00:47:06,440 --> 00:47:14,240 Speaker 1: really soon. Text Stuff is an I Heart Radio production. 744 00:47:14,480 --> 00:47:17,279 Speaker 1: For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit the i 745 00:47:17,400 --> 00:47:20,640 Speaker 1: heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to 746 00:47:20,680 --> 00:47:21,600 Speaker 1: your favorite shows.