Bugs Bunny and Puffy Duck vs. Marvin the Martian - A perspective from (earthly) international space law -
- Paper number
IAC-15,E7,3,5,x29005
- Author
Dr. Annette Froehlich, SpaceTech (TU Graz)/ German Aerospace Center (DLR), Austria
- Year
2015
- Abstract
This paper analyses several well-known clips from famous films featuring Bugs Bunny and Puffy Duck and other such characters. Since their first appearance on the screen, they have undertaken various space activities including space flights to other celestial bodies where they meet Marvin the Martian, a character who, as his name indicates, descends from planet Mars. He is obsessed with the idea of destroying the Earth. His epic phrases are “The Earth will be gone in just a few moments: it obstructs my view to Venus!” He wants to destroy the Earth by using either his “earth-shattering kaboom” (a device in form of a stick of dynamite) or his “Illudium Q-36 Explosive Space Modulator”. At the beginning of his space exploration activities the latter used to be even a “Uranium Pu-36”. In the light of international space law various, important aspects of the space exploration activities of Bugs Bunny and Marvin the Martian require further analysis. Examples are: the registration of their multiple spacecrafts; the use of weapons on celestial bodies; their role in ensuring non-contamination or non-destruction of any celestial bodies and their attempts to appropriate the Moon. Indeed, Puffy Duck and Marvin the Martian both try to appropriate the Moon by planting their respective flags in its ground. Even human rights are at stake when Bugs Bunny is at risk of being turned into a slave. This raises the question whether international law is applicable in space. Moreover, Marvin the Martian changes his character over the decades. From being a potential destroyer, he turns into a person who saves the Earth. With this, the question arises if his evolution has been influenced by the evolution of space law?
- Abstract document
- Manuscript document
IAC-15,E7,3,5,x29005.pdf (🔒 authorized access only).
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