Finders not keepers http://www.space.com/13064-falling-satellite-debris-uars-nasa-property.html "Because this is a U.S. government satellite, any object that does reach the surface of the Earth, should it be found, is still the property of the United States," said Nick Johnson, chief scientist of NASA's Orbital Debris Program Office at the Johnson Space Center in Houston. "You do not have the luxury of trying to sell it on eBay." Should the satellite drop debris over the United States, which as of Friday NASA could not entirely discount given UARS's slower than previously predicted descent, then U.S. laws will apply. Any parts found must be surrendered to the government. Pocketing pieces as souvenirs could lead to charges of theft of government property. If debris rains down outside the country, or splashes down in the ocean and later washes ashore on foreign soil, then the United Nations' Outer Space Treaty could still offer the U.S. the option of requesting the debris to be returned. Any of the 100 nations that are party to the 1967 convention would be required to comply, though the U.S. would be responsible for any transportation costs." -----Original Message----- From: fvalcho@yahoo.com Sent: Saturday, September 24, 2011 12:16 PM To: SeeSat-L Subject: UARS or any debris Who owns the debris if it falls and is found? _______________________________________________ Seesat-l mailing list http://mailman.satobs.org/mailman/listinfo/seesat-l
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Sat Sep 24 2011 - 16:43:51 UTC