The Solar System is the gravitationally bound system of the Sun and the objects that orbit it, either directly or indirectly. Of the objects that orbit the Sun directly, the largest are the eight planets, with the remainder being smaller objects, the dwarf planets, and small Solar System bodies. Of the objects that orbit the Sun indirectly—the moons—two are larger than the smallest planet, Mercury. The Solar System also contains smaller objects. The asteroid belt, which lies between the orbits of Mars and Jupiter, mostly contains objects composed, like the terrestrial planets, of rock and metal. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun, with the majority of the remaining mass contained in Jupiter. The four smaller inner planets, Mercury, Venus, Earth and Mars, are terrestrial planets, being primarily composed of rock and metal.
Published in Chapter:
Main Contents and Comment on the 1979 Moon Agreement of 1979
Copyright: © 2021
|Pages: 7
DOI: 10.4018/978-1-7998-7407-2.ch006
Abstract
This chapter explains the ratification, main contents, and prospect of the 1979 Moon Agreements. The Agreement Governing the Activities of States on the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies, better known as the Moon Treaty or Moon Agreement, is a multilateral treaty that turns jurisdiction of all celestial bodies (including the orbits around such bodies) over to the participant countries. Thus, all activities would conform to international law, including the United Nations Charter. It has not been ratified by any state that engages in self-launched human spaceflight or has plans to do so (e.g., the United States, the larger part of the member states of the European Space Agency, Russia [former Soviet Union], People's Republic of China, and Japan). As of January 2019, 18 states are parties to the treaty. As the current Moon Agreement has emerged as a problem as the United States and other major powers are not joining it, many lawyers, professors, and scientists urged that the powers ratify it quickly.