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Space: the final frontier.
It is a merciless void full of cosmic phenomenon
hellbent on killing you, the single most uninhabitable
environment in the universe.
Just to reach it demands the very best of
nations- the finest engineering, the most
intelligent scientists, and the bravest, most
upstanding of astronauts.
With not just lives, but hundreds of millions
of dollars at stake in every launch, the astronauts
who represent their home nations also represent
the very best of that nation- yet despite
this, it seems we're all fallible, and prone
to crimes of passion.
That's right, the first ever space crime has
finally been committed, and some people are
wondering exactly how is this going to work
really?
You've probably seen a Hollywood movie or
two where the crooks try to make a break for
open sea.
Once out in international waters they can't
be convicted of criminal acts, after all,
nobody owns the open sea, right?
Well, that's only half true, because nobody
in fact does own the open sea, and it actually
belongs to everybody.
That however does not mean by any length that
you can get away with crimes scott free.
See long ago the international community got
together and agreed that there had to be a
legal framework for crimes committed on the
high seas.
The problem was, who's laws should be followed
in open waters, and if one country's laws
were enacted everywhere, then wouldn't that
sort of violate the whole, 'nobody owns the
open ocean' thing?
To simplify matters, the world agreed to some
basic maritime laws that all nations would
adopt, and be applicable to ship traffic anywhere
in the world.
But for individual crimes, it was decided
that national law would dictate if what you
did was a crime or not.
Basically, whatever nation a ship is registered
in, that’s the country whose laws will be
enforced on board that vessel.
So if you committed, say, murder on the high
seas while aboard a Pakistani ship, you would
be tried and punished under Pakistani law
regardless of your own nationality.
Thankfully nations generally agree on the
big don'ts out of the ten commandments, so
there's no nation you can register your ship
with that will let you throw giant murder
parties and get away with it.
Less fortunately, there's a huge disparity
in other laws that govern other issues, such
as safety and worker compensation.
That is why most big transport vessels are
actually registered in Panama, the Marshall
Islands, and Liberia, as it allows their operators
to pay their crews less and pay less taxes
overall.
Now we turn our focus to space, and the world's
first bonafide space-crime.
Anne McClain is an astronaut and former US
Air Force combat pilot with over 800 flight
hours in a combat environment.
Recently however she was on a six-month mission
to the International Space Station, and while
aboard the ISS, committed the world's first
space crime.
Back on earth, McClain and her partner had
been undergoing a very messy divorce.
In order to keep tabs on her partner's financial
activities, McClain used the ISS's internet
connection to log into her partner's bank
account, despite the fact that at that moment
the two were in the middle of a divorce.
She used the information to confront her partner
about several aspects of the divorce's settlement,
and in turn, McClain's partner filed a criminal
complaint against her.
According to her partner, McClain improperly
accessed her finances and stole her identity,
so to speak, in order to gain access to those
financial records.
McClain counters by saying that she was simply
overseeing their joint finances, as she had
often done while they were married.
However as of this episode this is all still
just allegations, and because we don’t live
in China, McClain is innocent until proven
guilty.
Granted, it's not as exciting as smuggling
dylithium crystals or even space-murder, but
inappropriately logging into someone else's
secure bank records is still a pretty serious
crime, and can in fact be construed legally
speaking as identity theft.
Punishment varies on a state by state basis,
but identity theft is a felony in every state
in the union- in Georgia for example you can
receive up to ten years in prison.
This however raises a rather curious point
about McClain's crime, what state exactly
would she be tried in for a crime committed
from outer space?
While in space all astronauts are governed
by national law, no different than if they
were on the high seas.
On the ocean though, McClain would have faced
the consequences for whatever state the vessel
was registered in the United States- but in
space, the International Space Station is,
well, international.
While astronauts themselves are governed by
the law of their home country, details get
murky in this case as far as what state should
McClain be tried in if found guilty of identity
theft.
In some cases the federal government steps
in, specially if identity theft charges are
brought against someone who has committed
the act across several states.
But this is usually reserved for big-time
offenders, such as major hackers or criminal
figures who's actions might span across the
entire nation and in fact the world.
McClain wasn't even in the world when she
committed her crime though, so who is going
to punish her and under what jurisdiction?
This is of course assuming that McClain is
found guilty, which is being investigated
now.
NASA's inspector general is itself looking
into the matter, and likely there will be
no charges filed as the evidence against McClain
may be a bit weak- most married couples after
all do know each other's financial records
information.
Still, this whole case has got many people
back on earth thinking about the consequences
of humanity's ever-expanding presence in space.
Even now Elon Musk is preparing to test a
rocket that could take dozens of people into
orbit and beyond per launch, and he has repeatedly
stated that his ultimate goal is human colonization
of the solar system.
Will these new human colonies follow the laws
of their home countries too?
Or should they be allowed to create new laws
and govern themselves?
What claim does earth really have on people
who live so far away it takes years and hundreds
of millions of dollars just to get to them?
These are all questions that humanity is going
to have to start answering very soon indeed,
and it may be interesting to think that though
the first colonies in space may be American,
Russian, and Chinese in origin, their distance
and difficulty in physically getting to these
colonists may see them declare independence.
Perhaps martians are already amongst us, because
some of earth's children may grow up one day
and go to live on Mars permanently, eventually
deciding that they want to govern themselves.
Whatever the future holds, one thing is for
certain, humanity is going to take its best
to the stars, along with its many vices, and
we better be ready to deal with the consequences.
But you don’t need to go to space to find
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How should we punish crimes in space?
Space jail?
Picking up trash out of earth’s orbit on
a space chain gang?
Tell us your ideas in the comments!
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