Even if nations don’t want to do this stuff, could we get dragged along by individuals? One of the most common arguments we hear is that all law is pointless because if Elon Musk has a Mars settlement, who’s going to stop him? One of your authors has a brother who makes this argument. His name is Marty and he is wrong. We call this sort of thing the “treehouse theory of space law.” Imagine this: a bunch of kids build a treehouse up a tall tree. The ladder is too light for an adult to climb, so once the kids are up there, they can’t be reached. Their father comes out and says, “Kids! I made
...more
