Water found on Mars!

[mornelithe]

SvennoJ said:

mornelithe said:

 

Oh, I wasn't saying it couldn't potentially be useful for use in the future.  The current serious issue is that it's nearly impossible to sterilize objects sent from Earth to Mars.  Due to the resilience of bacteria to ionization, radiation etc... so until we can even approach these features in a way we can limit exposure, or completely stop the exposure, we probably won't be going anywhere near those sites for a bit. (NASA does not want to be introducing Earth organisms into environments where it could flourish on other planets, without knowing they aren't destroying an ecosystem we simply aren't smart enough to identify).  

We're still a ways away from settlement of Mars, given these facts.  But, it's being worked on for sure.

Are there any laws governing Mars though? What's stopping some crazy billionaire from launching his own mission to retrieve Mars water.
First we'll have a space hotel, maybe in 5 years already, then a lunar resort. I wouldn't be surprised if the first settlement on the Moon is for commercial reasons rather than scientific.

No, but most Billionaires don't have the money to be able to do this (NASA's yearly budget is $17.64bln).   It requires Government's with the kind of money the US, EU, Russia, etc.. can put together, to be able to pioneer these things.  For one, this is the first time it's been shown that there's actually flowing water on Mars.  For another, we've known the moon has polar icecaps, and no company or billionaire has attempted any such venture.  Third, the amount of rare metals/resources on comets flying through the galaxy, should be enough to have ANY billionaire hip deep in this, but thus far, few are really putting serious money into it.

So, long story short sure a Billionaire could invest the vast, vast majority of their wealth to such a venture, but these devices/machines/technology aren't developed in a year, or 5 years.  It's a long process, that requires new technologies be developed over time.

And actually there are laws about this.  It's called the Outer Space Treaty, which was probably mainly devised to prohibit Governments from putting weapons systems in space, but also includes Article IV:

"Article VI of the Outer Space Treaty deals with international responsibility, stating that "the activities of non-governmental entities in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, shall require authorization and continuing supervision by the appropriate State Party to the Treaty" and that States Parties shall bear international responsibility for national space activities whether carried out by governmental or non-governmental entities.

As a result of discussions arising from Project West Ford in 1963, a consultation clause was included in Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty: "A State Party to the Treaty which has reason to believe that an activity or experiment planned by another State Party in outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, would cause potentially harmful interference with activities in the peaceful exploration and use of outer space, including the Moon and other celestial bodies, may request consultation concerning the activity or experiment."^[6][7]"