When the USA planted a flag on the moon, did the moon become a USA territory?
I emailed NASA and got this response: Thank you for your email and interest in NASA. No, the Moon is not territory of the United States and we made no claims to it in placing the flag there. The United States is a signatory to the Outer Space Treaty of 1967(a copy is posted on the NASA History Office webpage at http://history.nasa.gov/1967treaty.html). The treaty states, “Outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, shall be free for exploration and use by all States without discrimination of any kind, on a basis of equality and in accordance with international law, and there shall be free access to all areas of celestial bodies.” Outer Space Law is very closely related the laws governing the open seas and governing Antarctica, which also may not be claimed as territory by any country. This also means that individuals and corporations cannot stake claims. The NASA Office of General Counsel (http://www.nasa.gov/offices/ogc/about/index.html) deals with the topic regularly
