Law Commons^™

Access Mars: Assessing Cave Capabilities Establishing Specific Solutions: Final Report, Abdul Mohsen Al Husseini, Luis Alvarez Sanchez, Konstantinos Antonakopoulos, Jeffrey (Johannes) Apeldoorn, Kenneth Lowell Ashford Jr., Kutay Deniz Atabay, Sara Langston, Et Al.

Publications

The human race has evolved, grown and expanded through the exploration of Earth. After initial steps on the Moon, our next challenge is to explore the solar system. Mars shows potential for both scientific discovery and future human settlement, and so is a prime candidate for the next leap of human exploration. Such a bold endeavor will be a driver for an unprecedented worldwide cooperative effort and the catalyst for a new era of international, intercultural and interdisciplinary human relations. Scientific and technological progress will also accelerate as mankind is ushered into a new era of space exploration.

Currently proposed …

Space Law In The Age Of The International Space Station, Frans Von Der Dunk

Space, Cyber, and Telecommunications Law Program: Faculty Publications

This article focuses on the special context where humans from various nations work and live together in one orbiting laboratory, the International Space Station (ISS), and the legal rules pertinent to those activities. This essentially concerns the application of an existing body of international treaties on space and space activities to the ISS, as well as the special legal framework that has been established to deal with the various ramifications of this very international operating environment. Within that context moreover, the specific European parameters stemming from the fact that the European Space Agency (ESA) serves as the vehicle for the …

The Duty To Rescue Space Tourists And Return Private Spacecraft, Mark J. Sundahl

Law Faculty Articles and Essays

International space law has long imposed a duty to rescue astronauts and return errant spacecraft to the launching state. However, the existing space law treaties contain a number of gaps and interpretational problems that, among other things, call into question whether the duty to rescue and return applies to space tourists and spacecraft owned by private companies. These issues are of critical importance to the survival of the new space tourism industry, which is made up of a growing number of companies - such as Virgin Galactic, Rocketplane, and Blue Origin - that intend to launch their maiden flights in …