....many ways, but at the highest level through offering a window on infinity.
What child has not wondered at one time, where and how the world would end - would there be a final wall, or a deep pool humans can never cross - and then, still, what would be behind such wall or pool? Such questions will always be pertinent, there will always be yet another wall or pool. In this way, space also reflects the infinite possibilities offered to humanity: outer space reflects the fourth dimension of time, infinite as it is, next to the three classical physical dimensions of length, breadth and height.
Other then in the three traditional dimensions for humanity - earth, seas and air spaces - which are inherently and definitively finite, measurable in length, breadth and height or depth, in the fourth dimension of outer space there's always more to be discovered, more to be learned, and more to be exploited. In the final resort, therefore, space activities thus also come to represent the ultimate hope for mankind - as well as the ultimate danger, if such hope is squashed: it also means that less and less of human nature is foreign to outer space anymore.
Increasingly, elements of normal human behavior are to be dealt with in space: we have seen the first tourists in orbit, we've seen efforts to advertise, to "bury" human remains, we're even seeing the first efforts to establish lunar robotic pleasure parks. Luckily, so far, the legal framework for all such human activities is still holding together, but it is increasingly creaking under the strain of increasing human interests.
Law, after all, not only has the function of establishing certainty and predictability with regard to other human's actions, of down-to-earth traffic rules. Outer space simply is not down to earth; and left or right completely loose their meaning in the endless void out there. Law also has the function of establishing or, better, reflecting some kind of fairness and justice. Humanity should therefore strive to keep the legal framework in tact, update it in accordance with good international practice and of course change it if really necessary not only to enhance certainty and predictability but also fairness and justice, and thus keep the window to infinity wide open.
Dr.
Frans
von der Dunk
Director Space Law Research
International Institute of Air and Space Law
http://www.leidenuniv.nl/law/air&space/
Professional Category:
Legal
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