No Law To Forbit Humans To Sell Footprints In Space

There has been no comprehensive legal framework to prevent people from selling or destroying culturally significant landmarks, as well as first footprints in the space so far.

For example, because trips to space become more popular, an opportunist could seek was to steal and sell the first bootprints on the moon that Neil Armstrong left in a public auction, warns Michelle Hanlon, a professor of University of Mississippi Air and Space Law in an article posted in The Conversation.

Hanlon gives some evidence of damage that people cause to several landmarks like Terracotta Army or the Pyramids of Gaza by breaking off pieces to take their home, which proves that people are not reliable to protect the landmarks by themselves. Hanlon wrote:

There are places like ancient cave paintings and Stonehenge that are protected like the UNESCO’s World Heritage List. Whether the landmarks are to survive because more companies and countries enhance the capacity to leave our planet, she believes that their leaders have to be more proactive and preserve the landmarks before everything goes wrong.

She is currently one of the pioneers to call for updated or comprehensive space laws. She works on the development of laws and guidelines that can assist and promote the successful and sustainable use of space and the transition into a multi-planet species. It is known that many current treaties and laws of space are in a mess. She hopes that before space travel becomes popular, someone can successfully deal with this situation.