I just saw the movie “don’t look up” and without spoilers, the USA chooses a very controversial way to deal with a comet coming to Earth.
But in real life, how would things works out? Who is in charge of space? It can’t be the UN as they are completely toothless on Earth anyway.
If there was a comet threat and the USA says we have to divert it and Russia say no way, we have to blow it up. What would happen? Would both countries send their teams to the comet and fight each other once they arrive?
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No one at the moment is “in charge” because no one needs to be, the spirit is cooperation because there’s no money to be made yet. It functions like maritime law where everyone is held responsible for everyone’s safety since no one is really “in charge” of the ocean either. Once we start going to space for resource extraction I’m sure things will change.
Another upcoming issue is the “Kessler effect” where essentially we reach a critical mass of artificial satellites in orbit and they all destroy each other in a cataclysmic chain reaction and we won’t be able to get a rocket through the resulting debris field. So someone is eventually going to have to regulate what satellites are going to orbit but we aren’t at that hurdle yet.
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