The New Scope of the Obligation to Protect the Environment of Celestial Bodies
- Paper number
IAC-09.E8.6.6
- Author
Prof. Mahulena Hofmann, Giessen University, Germany
- Year
2009
- Abstract
Since the 60ties, the obligation to protect the environment of celestial bodies has been identified with the duty to take precautionary measures restricting the forward and backward biological contamination of outer space. The legal framework of this duty corresponded to this limited understanding of environmental activities. The intensification of space activities, the plans to exploit outer space and celestial bodies, and scientific projects such as 2005 Deep Impact of NASA have proven the urgent necessity to extend this narrow approach and to include other forms of negative influences on outer space such as depositing of waste, drilling experiments or long duration human missions into this concept. The paper analyses the new scope of planetary protection and its reflection in the legal sphere.
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
(absent)