Law on Mars with Michelle Hanlon

<p>Who owns your house on Mars?</p><p>What happens if somebody steals your solar panels?</p><p>Which laws apply if astronauts from several different countries are living together? And what happens when the first child is actually born there?</p><p>This month on our special <strong>Everyday Mars </strong>episode, space lawyer <strong>Michelle Hanlon</strong> joins <em>Aspiring Martians</em> to explore one of the strangest and most important questions surrounding humanity&#39;s future beyond Earth: <strong>how will law actually work on Mars?</strong></p><p>Michelle is Executive Director of the Center for Air and Space Law at the University of Mississippi, co-founder and president of <strong>For All Moonkind</strong>, founder of the Institute on Space Law and Ethics, and Editor-in-Chief of the <em>Journal of Space Law</em>. She has addressed the United Nations, testified before Congress, and become known throughout the space community as the “Godmother of Space Law.”</p><p>Together, we begin with the <strong>1967 Outer Space Treaty</strong>, the surprisingly short international agreement that still provides the foundation for what nations can and cannot do beyond Earth.</p><p>But the really interesting questions begin where the treaty becomes less clear.</p><p>Can an individual own property on Mars even if a nation cannot claim Martian territory? Can settlers exclude other people from their habitats? Who prosecutes theft? Which country is responsible when someone breaks the law? How do you regulate oxygen, water, privacy, safety, and working conditions when violating a rule could literally kill your neighbors?</p><p>Michelle also explains why Martian law may gradually develop from the bottom up. The earliest settlers will likely remain tethered to Earth and terrestrial legal systems, but their daily experiences could eventually create customs, norms, expectations, and ultimately laws unique to life on another planet.</p><p>We also discuss children born on Mars, human rights in space, SpaceX&#39;s declaration that Mars should be a “free planet,” whether the first Martian settlements will need constitutions, and Michelle&#39;s hope that space exploration could ultimately help humanity move beyond some of the national divisions that define life on Earth.</p><p>Because reaching Mars is only the beginning.</p><p>Once we arrive, we still have to figure out how to live together.</p><p>~</p><ul><li>All about Michelle: https://olemiss.edu/profiles/mlhanlon.php</li><li>For All Moonkind: https://www.forallmoonkind.org/</li><li>&quot;Is the Speed of Law Faster than the Speed of Light: Considerations of the Impact of Special Relativity on the Operation of Law in the Context of Deep Space Missions&quot;: https://egrove.olemiss.edu/j_space_l/vol47/iss2/4/</li></ul><p>~</p><p>A huge thank you to <strong>Michelle</strong> for taking the time to join me today and for sharing her incredible journey, curiosity, and perspective. And of course, thank you to Nick Thorburn for the stellar theme music, Ceci Giglio for the incredible graphics, Jero Squartini for the amazing animations, to RDan, Leila, Inka, and Carl for admining the Facebook group, and to my family for supporting this project, even when I start wondering whether someday we’re going to need to remember to request our absentee ballots before leaving for Mars.</p>