WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: How Would Authorities Handle a Murder in Space?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm Lauren Vogelbaum, and this is a classic episode from

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<v Speaker 1>the podcast's archives. Space exploration is a complicated venture. Space

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<v Speaker 1>is trying to kill you, So we're a little further

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<v Speaker 1>off from true space tourism than some private entities would

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<v Speaker 1>have us believe, But eventually we're probably going to have

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<v Speaker 1>to deal with other humans trying to kill you in space.

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<v Speaker 1>In this episode, we get into what would happen if

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<v Speaker 1>there were to be a murder in space. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren vogel Bomb here. Maybe it will be a jealous

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<v Speaker 1>astronaut who decides to eliminate a rival in an orbital

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<v Speaker 1>love triangle, or maybe being cooped up in a spacecraft

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<v Speaker 1>on an interplanetary flight will cause one crew member to

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<v Speaker 1>finally lose it at a colleague's annoying throat clearing. Or

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<v Speaker 1>maybe it will be a killing made to look like

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<v Speaker 1>an accident for some kind of nefarious space plot. But

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<v Speaker 1>sooner or later, it seems likely to happen. Given humans

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<v Speaker 1>propensity for committing homicidal violence against one another all over

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<v Speaker 1>the world, somebody is going to commit a murder in

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<v Speaker 1>space or on another planet or moon, and when it happens,

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<v Speaker 1>authorities will have to figure out how to catch the

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<v Speaker 1>perpetrator and restore justice. But it's not going to be easy.

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<v Speaker 1>Investigating a murder in space would be vastly more complicated

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<v Speaker 1>and difficult than probing a crime on Earth, and law

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<v Speaker 1>enforcement agencies and courts may have to deal with tricky

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<v Speaker 1>jurisdictional issues that end up requiring negotiations among spacefaring companies,

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<v Speaker 1>and until the laws are ready written, judges will have

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<v Speaker 1>to take statutes and legal standards that were developed to

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<v Speaker 1>deal with murder allegations on Earth and figure out how

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<v Speaker 1>to apply them to accusations of lethal violence in space.

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<v Speaker 1>You might be surprised to learn that nations already have

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<v Speaker 1>legal jurisdiction that stretches outside the confines of this planet.

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<v Speaker 1>That's covered an Article eight of the nineteen sixty seven

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<v Speaker 1>Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the

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<v Speaker 1>exploration and Use of outer Space, including the Moon and

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<v Speaker 1>other celestial bodies. It specifies that whenever one of the

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<v Speaker 1>nations that's a party to the treaty launches an object

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<v Speaker 1>the spacecraft, satellite, or space station into space or builds

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<v Speaker 1>one on a celestial body, that nation retains jurisdiction and

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<v Speaker 1>control over it. Thus, according to legal experts, if a

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<v Speaker 1>US astronaut is accused of killing another American while traveling

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<v Speaker 1>in a NASA spacecraft or on a commercial space vehicle

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<v Speaker 1>launched from the United States, the FBI and federal prosecutors

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<v Speaker 1>would be within their authority to arrest the alleged killer

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<v Speaker 1>and bring them back to Earth for trial in federal court.

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<v Speaker 1>Things might get a little more complicated if the murder

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<v Speaker 1>occurs on the International Space Station and the alleged killer

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<v Speaker 1>and victim are citizens of different countries.

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<v Speaker 2>But yes, there are experts in this. We spoke via

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<v Speaker 2>email with Franz G. Vanderdunk, the outmal professor of space

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<v Speaker 2>law at the University of Nebraska Lincoln's College of Law.

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<v Speaker 2>They said, Article twenty two of the nineteen ninety eight

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<v Speaker 2>intergovernmental Agreement concluded between the parties deviates from the aforementioned

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<v Speaker 2>international treaty clauses and by contract concedes jurisdiction to the

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<v Speaker 2>state of nationality of the offender. But there is a

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<v Speaker 2>caveat quote if the life or safety of persons with

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<v Speaker 2>other nationalities and or the safety of the space station

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<v Speaker 2>is at stake. Consultation should take place with these other

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<v Speaker 2>countries concerned on which country should actually initiate prosecution, which

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<v Speaker 2>may result in the country of nationality of the victim

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<v Speaker 2>doing that. But this only covers the International Space Station

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<v Speaker 2>or ISS. Things could get even more complicated jurisdictionally if

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<v Speaker 2>there's a killing on a future private sector orbital hotel,

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<v Speaker 2>the sort of place where this is probably more likely

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<v Speaker 2>to occur. We also spoke via email with Michelle Hanlin,

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<v Speaker 2>Associate director of the Air and Space Law Program at

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<v Speaker 2>the University of Mississippi School of Law. She said, if

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<v Speaker 2>you have four hundred civilians in space, you know crime

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<v Speaker 2>inevitably is going to happen. We send the most disciplined

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<v Speaker 2>and fit people, the best of humanity to the iss

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<v Speaker 2>With a hotel, you're not going to be able to

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<v Speaker 2>impose the same standards you'd need to make money. You're

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<v Speaker 2>going to get a lot greater variety of people, and

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<v Speaker 2>you know there is going to be crime, possibly from

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<v Speaker 2>stealing a watch all the way to murder. Who actually

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<v Speaker 2>qualifies as the hotel's launching state with jurisdiction under the

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<v Speaker 2>nineteen sixty seven treaty could be murky too. It could

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<v Speaker 2>be Nation A, which is home to the company that

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<v Speaker 2>operates the hotel, or it could be Nation B, where

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<v Speaker 2>the installations components were manufactured, or Nation C, where the

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<v Speaker 2>launch pad for the rocket that transported the parts into

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<v Speaker 2>space was located, or Nation D, home to the company

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<v Speaker 2>that rented the launch pad. Hanland said, arguably any of

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<v Speaker 2>these states could have jurisdiction as wes built. Crimes in space,

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<v Speaker 2>particularly incidents involving nationals from different countries, most likely would

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<v Speaker 2>lead to diplomatic negotiations to see who gets to take

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<v Speaker 2>charge and what If an astronaut on a space walk

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<v Speaker 2>decides to, say, cut another astronaut's tether, who would have

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<v Speaker 2>jurisdiction then, since the act would have occurred outside of

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<v Speaker 2>an object controlled by a nation. We also spoke via

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<v Speaker 2>email Henry R. Hertzfeld, a research professor and director of

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<v Speaker 2>the Space Policy Institute at George Washington University's Elliott School

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<v Speaker 2>of International Affairs. He said, although there is no sovereignty

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<v Speaker 2>outside spacecraft, there are analogies to the law on ships

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<v Speaker 2>in international waters and also to issues that might occur

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<v Speaker 2>in Antarctica, both places with no national sovereignty. Any person

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<v Speaker 2>in space has a national citizenship is the responsibility of

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<v Speaker 2>the launching state or the person state of citizenship for

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<v Speaker 2>their activities in space, and would be tried for a

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<v Speaker 2>violation of the law in the appropriate state. Let's assume

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<v Speaker 2>that the US takes jurisdiction over a space market. Investigating

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<v Speaker 2>the crime and building a case is going to be

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<v Speaker 2>tricky considering that the crime scene and potential witnesses are

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<v Speaker 2>outside the Earth. Hamlin said, you might have to add

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<v Speaker 2>a whole new profession space cup. There's going to be

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<v Speaker 2>a tremendous cost to send someone into space just to

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<v Speaker 2>investigate a murder, and gathering evidence in space or on

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<v Speaker 2>another planet or moon might be especially difficult. DNA, which

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<v Speaker 2>is increasingly a key means of identifying perpetrators, would age

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<v Speaker 2>differently on Mars than on Earth because of the increased

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<v Speaker 2>exposure to solar radiation due to the red planets in

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<v Speaker 2>our atmosphere. Additionally, lower gravity would lead to such things

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<v Speaker 2>as different splatter patterns from stab wounds. On the plus side,

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<v Speaker 2>the ubiquitous Martian dust clinging to the exteriors of spacesuits

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<v Speaker 2>and other surfaces might provide a valuable new sort of evidence.

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<v Speaker 2>Hamlin figures that investigators and prosecutors will find a way

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<v Speaker 2>to deal with it. She said, our law developed for

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<v Speaker 2>fingerprints in DNA. When you prosecute a criminal case, you

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<v Speaker 2>do what you can with what you're given. Space murder

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<v Speaker 2>may also require the courts to grapple with Fourth Amendment issues,

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<v Speaker 2>since astronauts are continually being monitored in myriad ways, including

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<v Speaker 2>on video. Hanlon said, there's a value to having cameras

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<v Speaker 2>in every room of a spacecraft, but do you have

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<v Speaker 2>an expectation of privacy? She expects that many of these

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<v Speaker 2>questions will be resolved by wise judges and lawyers, but

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<v Speaker 2>she had also like to see spacefaring communities come together

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<v Speaker 2>and work out a new international agreement on how to

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<v Speaker 2>collaborate on handling future crimes in space. She said, what

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<v Speaker 2>we don't want is an international space regime that has

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<v Speaker 2>very different concepts from jurisdiction to jurisdiction. Hopefully we can

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<v Speaker 2>explore space together as a species and have common understandings.

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<v Speaker 2>Today's episode is based on the article what Happens if

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<v Speaker 2>someone is murdered in Space on HowStuffWorks dot Com, written

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<v Speaker 2>by Patrick J. Kiger.

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<v Speaker 1>Rain Stuff is production of iHeartRadio in partnership with how

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<v Speaker 1>stuffworks dot com. It is produced by Tyler Klaing. Podcasts

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<v Speaker 1>My heart Radio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, or

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<v Speaker 1>wherever you listen to your favorite shows.