Have you guys read Dan Brown's Deception Point? It's all about this government guy's attempts to give NASA a monopoly on space travel - in the US at least - so that no one can claim an ownership in space. Well, imagine if corporations or private citizens with enough cash decided to launch a shuttle to the moon and claimed it as their own.

Technically, no one can own the moon, as stated in the Outer Space Treaty, which is an international law signed by more than 100 countries. It states that the moon and all other celestial bodies are the province of all mankind. But. And that's a huge but (not butt). But ownership is different from property rights.

For example - I rent. I have property rights on my space (not myspace), so I still have the right to kick you out if I wanted to. But. I don't own the building. Same thing with the moon. However, considering there are 10 billion acres on the moon - not counting crater slopes - and there are only 6.7 billion people on Earth, technically we can all own an acre. Neat.

With the International Space Station's construction more than halfway complete, it's not so radical to think that humankind may one day place settlements on the moon. Now think about it - if everyone claimed a stake on the moon, that's going to be chaos. Dan Brown made a good point when he wrote Deception Point.

William Marshall, a scientist of NASA, had the following opinion, which is perhaps the best solution to the problem:

Who owns on the moon: no one. Who should own the moon: no one. Does this stop property rights? No. The best way forward is probably some sort of property licensing body like how it works in geo.

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