Who owns stuff that falls onto someone's property?

[Tim May]

Expect the first EBay auctions of debris from the "Columbia" to be a constitutional issue soon. (Actually, the censors at fascist EBay have probably already flagged any transactions which mention "space shuttle" and "Columbia" to be illegal thoughtcrime sales.)

Many tons of debris, scattered over at least three states.

The FedGov is already trying to claim control over the entire debris field.

(Of course, those in the know would be interested in any debris which includes artifacts from Shen Zou 4, the module left in orbit by the Chinese satellite launch, said by Jane's to be a military surveillance satellite, China's first, and said to have been a recovery mission by the three payload specialists on the classified STS-107 misison. The possibility that the Chinese set a 3-kg explosive charge to detonate under accelerometer signals is...interesting.)

Janes.com: "SZ 4 left its orbital module in orbit, where it will operate as an independent satellite for six or seven months, conducting Earth observation (perhaps military as well as civil), science and technical experiments. "

But, of course, such speculations are now banned under orders of HomeSec Internal Security Directorate 117-4, so I am making no such speculations.




--Tim May
"Ben Franklin warned us that those who would trade liberty for a little bit of temporary security deserve neither. This is the path we are now racing down, with American flags fluttering."-- Tim May, on events following 9/11/2001