12 Winter / Hiver 2017 the context of the Cold War, this prevented the Soviet Union from cap- turing a defunct space- craft from Americans to reverse engineer the design. Practically, it led to the 1975 Registration Convention dictating that ownership requires countries to register and track space assets. Un- fortunately, this limits present day initiatives to address problems with space debris, as prior ap- proval would be required from its rightful nation before an object can be removed from orbit. Expanding on the idea that space is the province of all humankind, Article IX de- clares that nations exploring space should (i) be mindful of activities from other nations, (ii) do so while avoiding the harmful con- tamination of space and other celestial bod- ies, and also (iii) avoid “adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter.” In essence, the environmental focus aims at “protecting future uses and users of space” through responsible exploration of outer space [2]. That is why, Armstrong, Aldrin, and Collins were in a small quarantine box while greeted by President Nixon follow- ing their historic flight. More recently, this is why the Cassini spacecraft plunged into Saturn to prevent contaminating Encela- dus and Titan, two of Saturn’s moons. The former has intriguing ice coverage, and the latter pre-biotic chemistry. The remaining articles are divided into two categories. Articles X through XIII encour- age nations to share information regarding their space activities and define visitation rights for each other’s future bases on other celestial bodies. Finally, the remaining four articles of the treaty deal with the diplomatic processes for signing, ratifying, amending, and even withdrawing from the treaty. investing in communication satellites like AT&T’s Telstar-1. Consequently, Article VI was added to ensure these cor- porations were also following the same principles from the treaty. Per Article VI, each na- tion is responsible for all space ventures from its citizens. This encourages governments to define policies and laws to li- cense, oversee activities, and ensure that they are in compli- ance with international laws [4]. As a direct continuation, Article VII makes the launch- ing state liable for any physical damages associated with a space asset. Acknowledging the possibility of inter- national cooperation for launches, the OST defines a few different categories of launch- ing state that would be liable jointly and sev- erally: (i) the state that launches, (ii) the state that procures the launch, (iii) the state from whose territory the object is launched, and (iv) the state from whose facility the object is launched. Naturally, the OST did not address all the intricate details, so Article VII was expanded in the 1972 Liability Convention. Although there have been a few instances of physical damages, none of them have reached the International Court of Justice. For ex- ample, in 1978, the Soviet reconnaissance sat- ellite, Kosmos 954, reentered the atmosphere after a malfunction and scattered radioactive debris over northern Canada. The cleanup effort was dubbed Operation Morning Light and cost $6M. Ultimately, it was settled by diplomatic means with a $3M payment from the Soviet Union. Aside from a few catastrophic failures lead- ing to premature reentries, most non-oper- ational spacecraft become space junk and remain in orbit for a long time. Even though they are not in use, Article VIII states that the “State Party to the Treaty on whose registry an object launched into space is car- ried” shall retain jurisdiction in perpetuity both in orbit and upon reentry. Hence, in “paranoia over space projects can be seen largely as a product of its time” [8]. To illus- trate this, they remind us of the opening scene in the 1967 James Bond movie You Only Live Twice where a large shuttle-like spacecraft captured an enemy spacecraft in its cargo bay. Thus, if this level of geopolit- ical animosity had continued during the first tests of Canada’s robotic manipulator, it is possible that “Soviet nightmares [would have] included the space shuttle pulling up next to a critical Soviet satellite, and mena- cing it with the Canadarm” [8]. In spite of the geopolitical tensions of the Cold War, the space superpowers agreed through Article V of the OST that astro- nauts were envoys of humanity and nations should make every effort to help each other’s national heroes. Coincidentally, cosmonaut Alexey Leonov was involved with two mis- sions that serve as examples of both the risks and potential mitigation strategies to protect astronauts. After completing the first spacewalk in March 1965, Leonov and his fellow cosmonaut encountered problems de- taching the landing module and endured a 46-second delay in their reentry plan. Derailed from the predicted landing site, the cosmonauts ended up in the middle of a forest more than 380 km away. While they were still inside the Soviet Union, the risk of landing and getting captured in enemy territory frightened both nations. Thus, the treaty included a statement ensuring that astronauts would be safely returned to their home nation. Having said that, being lost in a forest for a day is not as bad as potentially being stranded in a capsule in low-Earth- orbit, so further provisions were added to help other nations if their astronauts were in danger. To equip themselves against this unlikely scenario, the US and Soviet Union agreed on a docking interface that would al- low their two spacecraft to rescue astronauts marooned in orbit. This system was tested in the Apollo-Soyuz project during Leonov’s second flight in 1975, and even though it was never used for an emergency rescue, it was a historic step towards international col- laboration. Furthermore, nations were also required to share information with the UN about hazards to humans health in space to ensure that all current and future astronauts were cared for. The protection of national heroes was so important that in 1968, this article was expanded into its own treaty known as the Rescue Agreement. At the time the OST was being formal- ized, private space companies were already Expanding on the idea that space is the province of all humankind, Article IX declares that nations exploring space should (i) be mindful of activities from other nations, (ii) do so while avoiding the harmful contamination of space and other celestial bodies, and also (iii) avoid “adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter. ” (Continued on page 21) In 1978 the failed nuclear-powered Kosmos 954 satellite spread radio- active debris over northern Canada