NASA’s Artemis effort may finally bring humanity back to the moon in 2025, updating lunar exploration with enough energy to match the Apollo years. Preparing for this future, Canadian officials say they are ready to prevent any lunar jokes.
Canada on Thursday proposed an amendment to its penal code that would allow the prosecution of crimes committed by Canadian astronauts during three extraterrestrial scenarios: while traveling to the moon, from the moon and when on the luminous orb itself.
Specifically, the newly proposed country code, outlined here in Bill C-19, reads: “A member of a Canadian crew who, during a space flight, commits an act or omission outside of Canada which, if committed in Canada, would constitute a felony, shall be deemed to have committed that act or omission in Canada. “
This clause specifies that the rule applies to offenses committed ‘on or in connection with a flying element from the lunar portal; on any means of transport to or from the lunar portal; or on the surface of the moon. “
Excluding complexity, all of this simply means that Canadian moon researchers are better off behaving. No wandering near a cold crater, scattering frozen ice cream packs on moon rocks and definitely no stealing from a vulnerable alien if you find one. Lunar lawlessness is in the past.
Canada’s penal code already includes crimes committed by astronauts aboard the International Space Station as punishable under Canadian law, but it is noteworthy that the country’s newly proposed amendment includes, in particular, moon-related crimes. It may have something to do with the fact that Artemis II will have a Canadian astronaut on board, although there is no official statement in support of such a claim.
This new extraterrestrial legislation is a step forward from the much freer United Nations space law, which has not been updated since 1967. It is largely due to the famous space race between Russia and the United States decades ago and more or less. – leaves little to the moon-related consequences of the case-by-case assessment of the accused.
We may soon see other countries follow in Canada’s footsteps, prepare for the next generation of lunar exploration – and perhaps even deep space adventure – because, well, wherever there are people, there is room for error. Even on the moon.
Corrigendum, 5/3: An earlier version of this story incorrectly stated the status of the legislation. This is currently a proposal under consideration.
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