YOU MIGHT HAVE SEEN IT ON THE NEWS.
IN DECEMBER 2013, CHINA SUCCESSFULLY LANDED AN UNMANNED PROBE ON THE MOON.
YOU CAN SEE VIDEO OF THE LUNAR ROVER LANDING ON YOUTUBE.
THE EVENT HAS PROMPTED DEBATE OVER THE POTENTIAL EXPLOITATION OF THE MOON'S RESOURCES - AND
WHO EXACTLY OWNS RIGHTS TO THE EARTH'S ONLY NATURAL SATELLITE.
VOA'S HENRY RIDGWELL IN LONDON HAS BEEN LOOKING AT THIS STORY AND I TALKED WITH HIM ABOUT
IT.
LET'S CHECK IT OUT.
HENRY, TELL US ABOUT THIS RECENT LUNAR LANDING BY CHINA AND THE DEBATE THAT WE'VE SEEN IT
PROMPT?
WELL, IT WAS A BIG STEP FOR CHINA AND A BIG STEP FOR THE WORLD.
THE WORLD'S FIRST, WHAT THEY CALL, SOFT LUNAR LANDING SINCE 1996 ACHIEVED BY THE CHINESE
IN MID DECEMBER.
THEY PUT A LAUNCHER ON THE MOON, THE CHANG'E 3, AND THAT ALSO CONTAIN THE MOON BUGGY THAT
IS CURRENTLY COLLECTING SAMPLES OF ROCKS FROM THE MOON FOR ANALYSIS BACK ON EARTH.
IT WILL TELL US WHETHER THE MOON HAS ANY VALUABLE RESOURCES AND TELL US A BIT MORE ABOUT THE
FORMATION OF THE MOON SO A BIG STEP FOR SCIENCE AND THE BIG STEP FOR CHINA.
SCIENTISTS BEHIND THE MISSION, LIKE JIA YANG, ARE EXCITED ABOUT WHAT LIES AHEAD.
"JADE RABBIT IS HEADING TO THE WEST NOW, WHERE THERE'S A PYRAMID-LIKE ROCK AROUND 30 METERS
AWAY.
THE ROCK APPEARS QUITE SPECIAL AS IT HAS A DIFFERENT SHAPE FROM OTHER ROCKS."
PRIOR TO THE MISSION, CHINESE SCIENTISTS DESCRIBED THE MOON AS BEING A POTENTIAL SOURCE OF MINERALS.
BUT CURRENTLY, NO ONE CAN CLAIM OWNERSHIP OF THE MOON, SAYS IAN CRAWFORD, PROFESSOR
OF PLANETARY SCIENCE AT BIRKBECK COLLEGE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON.
"THE LEGAL STATUS OF THE MOON IS GOVERNED BY THE 1967 OUTER SPACE TREATY, ARTICLE 2,
WHICH SPECIFICALLY PROHIBITS NATION STATES FROM APPROPRIATING THE MOON."
AND THAT TREATY ENVISIONS THAT ONLY NATION STATES WHATEVER HAVE THE MONEY AND RESOURCES
AND THE CAPACITY TO GET INVOLVED IN THIS SORT OF MISSION.
IT DIDN'T MENTION PRIVATE COMPANIES, WHICH, OF COURSE, ARE EXPANDING IN A VERY BIG WAY
INTO SPACE EXPLORATION.
WE'VE GOT COMPANIES LIKE VIRGIN GALACTIC, WHICH HOPES TO TAKE THE FIRST FEE-PAYING PASSENGERS
INTO SPACE THIS YEAR.
COMPETITIONS LIKE GOOGLE LUNAR X PRIZE, WHICH WILL REWARD ANY PRIVATE COMPANIES THAT MANAGE
TO LAND ROBOTIC MISSION ON THE SURFACE OF THE MOON AND TAKE PHOTOS AND COLLECT SAMPLES
THERE.
SO THERE IS A BIT OF A GRAY AREA WITHIN THIS TREATY THAT DOESN'T COVER WHAT WILL HAPPEN
IF PRIVATE COMPANIES GET TO THE MOON AND THEY SEE SOME VALUE IN STARTING TO MINE MINERALS
AND BRING THESE BACK HOME.
AND HENRY THIS CONCEPT OF UNITY UNDER THE MOON IS SOMETHING THAT WAS EXPLORED IN THIS
EXHIBIT THAT YOU COVER IN LONDON.
TELL US ABOUT WHAT YOU SAW THERE.
THAT'S RIGHT.
THE EXHIBITION IS TITLED REPUBLIC OF THE MOON.
IT'S TOURING BRITAIN AND VARIOUS OTHER COUNTRIES AS WELL AND IT WAS TRIGGERED BY THIS DEBATE
LOOKING AT WHO ACTUALLY OWNS THE MOON AND THE CURATOR BEHIND THE EXHIBITION SAYS THAT
MOTIVATION WAS THE SKEPTICISM OVER EXACTLY WHO OWNS THE MOON AND THOSE VARIOUS LOOPHOLES
THAT MIGHT BE IN THERE WITH PRIVATE COMPANIES ETC.
AND SO THESE ARTISTS WERE COMMISSIONED TO MAKE SOME PIECES LOOKING THAT POSSIBILITY.
ROB LA FRENAIS IS CURATOR OF THE EXHIBITION.
"WE HAD THIS IDEA THAT THE REPUBLIC OF THE MOON WOULD BE IN A SENSE AN IMAGINARY COUNTRY.
BUT ALL THE ARTISTS IN REPUBLIC OF THE MOON HAVE GOT THEIR OWN INDIVIDUAL REFLECTIONS
ON WHAT THE
AND MANY OF THEM ARE - IT'S QUITE ESOTERIC EXHIBITION, VERY MODERN CONCEPTUAL EXHIBITION
- BUT MANY OF THEM ARE QUITE MOVING AND MAKE YOU STOP AND PAUSE AND THINK.
ONE OF THEM SENT A SIGNAL OF BEETHOVEN'S COMPOSITION - MOONLIGHT SONATA - OVER TO THE MOON, WHICH
WAS THEN BOUNCED BACK EARTH...
AND THE MOON...
THE SURFACE OF THE MOON BECAUSE OF THE CRATERS INTERFERE WITH THAT SIGNAL AS IT BOUNCES BACK
AND INTERFERES WITH THE MUSIC THAT IS THEN PLAYED.
SO IT GIVES YOU AN IDEA OF JUST THINKING IN YOUR MIND THAT THE MAKEUP OF THOSE CRATERS
ON THE MOON AND WHAT MIGHT BE UP THERE.
AND WHO MIGHT OWN THAT?
AND EXACTLY WHAT ROLE THE MOON SHOULD PLAY IN OUR LIVES.
MANY DIFFERENT PEOPLE AROUND THE WORLD WILL HAVE THEIR OWN OPINIONS ABOUT HOW THEY THINK
ABOUT THE MOON.
WHETHER IT EVEN ENTERS THEIR LIVES.
WHETHER AS IT GETS DARK TONIGHT AND IF YOU LOOK AT THE SKY, IF IT'S A CLEAR NIGHT, YOU'LL
SEE THE MOON AND HOW DO YOU FEEL ABOUT THAT?
SHOULD IT BE SOMETHING THAT SHOULD BE EXPLOITED OR SHOULD IT BE, YOU KNOW, ONE OF THE LAST
WILDERNESS' THAT WE HAVE ACCESS TO?
AND AGAIN OUR THANKS TO VOA'S HENRY RIDGWELL IN LONDON.
NOW U.S. LAW PROHIBITS THE COUNTRY'S SPACE AGENCY, NASA, FROM WORKING WITH CHINA, BUT
ACADEMICS FROM THE U.S. AND AROUND THE WORLD HAVE BEEN EXCHANGING QUESTIONS AND INFORMATION
ABOUT DATA FROM CHINA'S LUNAR ROVER IN VARIOUS FORUMS.