FAQ: Frequently Asked Questions ... and more

For ease of use we have gathered the Q&As into discrete sections:

The Mars Register Business:

What do we want?
A business friendly ‘Top-Up’ Space Treaty that better restricts weapons, controls space debris and land appropriation in Space. Ideally, we also want a responsible, international governing body to oversee space exploration and exploitation…. we suggest a “responsible, market friendly” Space-User Group. Of course, we also want a fantastic reward for all our fundraisers, the Mars land claimants who have joined us via this website (reward?… either Mars land or $$$$).
  1. UN fears imminent weaponization of space:
    UN GENERAL ASSEMBLY (Resolution, Dec 2016): The General Assembly, “Seriously concerned about the possibility of an arms race in outer space”

2. Many nations anticipate the weaponization of space:
CHINA (at UN COPUOS 2016): “the risk of weaponization of outer space and military confrontations in outer space is on the increase with it ….. posing a potential major threat to peace and security in outer space”

3. Aggressive competition in space exploitation:
BIGELOW: “If we don’t get there first, they (China) will!” ….. US Senator Ted Cruz, Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Space, Science and Competitiveness: “America must expand commerce and ultimately settlement into space; and we must do it first.”…. “The world is much safer with America as the global leader of this planet; and the world will similarly be safer and stronger if the United States and our ideals of free enterprise and free speech are the driving force of commerce and settlement throughout the galaxy”

4. Several nations very unhappy with the US Space Act:
RUSSIA (at UN COPUOS 2016): “The United States vividly demonstrated a connection between diminishing the Committee’s role and powers, on the one hand, and manifestations of total disrespect for international law order, on the other, by adopting the commercial space launch competitiveness act on 25 November 2015”

5. US “commerce” is very happy with the US Space Act:
Eric Anderson, Co-Founder and Co-Chairman, Planetary Resources: “This is the single greatest recognition of property rights in history.” …….. Bigelow : “The time has come to get serious about lunar property rights”

6. Space faring nations are seriously looking at weaponizing space. We have a new US Space Force. We are in danger of converting astronauts from ‘envoys of mankind’ into opposing armed combatants.

So what do we at MARS REGISTER think about it?? … well, we think the United States “Space Act 2015” is mostly a GOOD THING but it does hurt the 50 year old Outer Space Treaty.  So the US needs to show strong responsible leadership and encourage the UN (COPUOS) to work hard to build a limited ‘top-up treaty’ upon the existing Outer Space Treaty.  This will prove VERY important.

6. Space debris levels at “critical”
ESA statement 2017: “All these studies are a clear indicator that the population of large and massive objects has reached a critical density in LEO, and that mitigation alone is not sufficient”.

7. The likely future without Space Treaty update:
A BIG RISK OF DISASTER FROM SPACE DEBRIS, UNCONTROLLED APPROPRIATION/MINING RIGHTS AND CONFLICT (WITH NUKES AVAILABLE)….. The US Space ACT (2015), whilst “necessary”, does infringe upon the non appropriation principle and the OST. What will happen if the US Space ACT is passively accepted by other space nations without any OST updates to accommodate it? …. well, over the next 20+ years, 3-5 main space faring nations will compete aggressively for mining rights on celestial land. Other nations will be left behind. The US will be the clear leader. Pedis possessio will be used to mark out the wide areas of celestial mining claims. The OST becomes less relevant as space faring nations continue to develop their own laws. Nuclear weaponization (and other WMDs) becomes a fact in space. Space debris is largely uncontrolled and progressively dangerous. The opportunity for conflict, with nuclear capabilities available, becomes very real.

8. The Future with an appropriate Space Law update (and a light touch “space exploitation” governing body):
Within an updated treaty, there will be an up to date, fit for purpose legal framework that accommodates space exploitation and offers market friendly governance, whilst still protecting wider celestial lands for all ‘humanity’. Weaponisation remains very restricted, space debris management is universally agreed and acceptable appropriation (if indeed this can be so) is limited by the treaty.  US space companies will lead the way and enjoy great profits, but within a responsible framework.   Thus safe, vibrant collaborative space exploration and exploitation can flourish, whilst still preserving some benefit and opportunity for the developing non-space faring nations.

9. The Mars Land Claim might sting the UN into updating the Space Laws. See our Legal section for detail info on how this might happen.

Yes we do. The Mars Land Claim (“The Martians” Project) is to be the vehicle for the CLUB Plan (Celestial Land Use Benefit). The CLUB Plan brings opportunity for $Trillions in benefits to space industry, humanity and Planet Earth. Implementation of the plan is an elgant, smooth process using a reliable platform. Operational costs will remain minimal.
Either:

1/ Our engagement with fascinated world media may shed sufficient light on the subject that the UN awakens from its sleepwalk towards space weaponization and finds enough cohesion to agree a safe top-up treaty.

2/. If space law evolves to tolerate celestial land ownership (as we know it will do in future), then we have a real chance to propagate our claim towards registration of Mars land title and beyond. The full realisation of our claim/proposal delivers a new ‘top-up treaty’ as well as vibrant responsible space commerce.

Well, compared to all those other celestial deeds that are out there [like “World’s best Dad certificates” we think], we are issuing genuine land claims based on honest acts of possession. Even if we do not get money or land for our claimants in the next decade, there still may be a big reward for them. If a new top-up Space Treaty is signed because of our ‘irritating legal actions’ then we can all feel proud.

Also, all those claims are part of a valid, single declared act of possession … such that whenever space law evolves to tolerate such celestial property rights, this claim should be first in line for consideration (expert independent legal advice supports this opinion). Our claimants’ descendants may actually get ownership of the claimed celestial land one day. In fact, we think this is quite PROBABLE.

Very possibly….. we suggest that at some future time, either the Mars Land Claimants or their descendants will PROBABLY gain land title registration to the claimed Mars land.

Our goal of course is to use the nominal fees paid by fellow claimants to fund the legal due process and the necessary lobbying of state delegations to the UN (COPUOS) – in order to convince them of the beneficial structure to our full proposal.

If all goes to plan, the UN will buy all claims from every claimant for a nominal fee. If they act quick (2017) that will be just $1000 each, which is still a good dollar reward. We don’t expect the UN to act quickly, hence a financial stimulus. That nominal fee will double biennially such that in 2037 it will be $1 million to each Mars land claimant.

If things don’t go to this plan, then rest assured, those claim certificates are still valid as part of the single communal claim to Mars land possession.  There is a GOOD chance that one future day, either the direct land claimants or their future descendants will gain title registration to the claimed land on Mars. FACT.

It’s all in the proof requirement for possession of distant difficult land as delineated by International Public Law. Using powerful lasers [mostly blue and red] fixed to telescopes means we can accurately shower Mars with laser light/heat. These powerful photons will liberate more CO2 into the atmosphere (such atmosphere generation is an important step to terraforming, if done on a MUCH bigger scale). It is heat and light that Mars needs for terraforming and organic life. A little heat can help with atmosphere generation and primitive plants, if present, will definitely use the light energy. Who knows, we might even spark life. After all, it is thought that high energy blue-UV light triggered life on Earth.
So, our laser will add something to Mars [a ‘non zero beneficial influence] … this helps us make a claim of possession.
We made our first claim in a witnessed written statement and a laser Morse Code message to Mars in 2010. Our claim has been reiterated frequently since, by programmable laser morse code, spacespeak.com radio messages, Twitter [IClaimMars] etc. We also can demostrate governance activity for Mars in our planning of The Mars Trust [to hold the land for our claimants] and our plans for transfer of the land into UN Trusteeship..
Well, the only game in town for that would be the consensus of state delegations at the UN. They have the authority, conceivably, to change the current interpretation of the law and form a celestial registry for this purpose.
Well, we would like to think that the force of our legal argument, together with a swell of support from claimants and others, would be overwhelming! … but in truth, the UN might just see that we are trying to gift it a turnkey solution for celestial safety: namely a new Treaty and UN Trusteeship. Space business should be happy too, as they will finally have someone to deal with and sign off their contracts [the UN Trustee]. So really, there’s a lot in in for everyone…. but the state delegations at COPUOS would have to agree to adjust the interpretation of core space law (Outer Space Treaty) within customary International Law. We might be able to make that happen… but even if we cannot … we know that it will happen one day … and our claim will be ready for that day … first-in-line! Independent expert legal opinion agrees with that.
Of course not. We just file the claim and admit them to our communal single act of Mars possession. Deeds will come if /when the UN registers the title (within future space law) for us. We propose that the Mars land is held in Trust for us [The Mars Trust] with UN as trustee and claimants as beneficiaries. In that case our claimants would get either a nice payment from the UN or actual land on Mars.
We expect the law to evolve to tolerate celestial land-property rights. If the UN starts to consider our communal claim as a possible candidate for successful registration, it may wish to take opportunity to ‘buy back’ the claims before registration (and before 2037, whichever comes first). It must pay a nominal fee to each of our co-claimants… prior to 10 Oct 2017 [50th anniversary of the outer space treaty] that fee will be $1000 paid to each claimant. The fee will double biennially thereafter, such that by October 2037 it will exceed $1 Million! After 2037, a successful registration of our claim will result in legal land title going to ‘All Mankind’ (to be held in trust by a UN committee) and the beneficial ownership title going to all co-claimants. Beneficial title to individual plots of land will then be awarded to each co-claimant by random lottery (except preference claims which are awarded for a pre-arranged plot). These plots vary in size from 9 Sq Km to 35 Sq Km … YES, they are huge.
Yes, but the Mars Register needs to be informed in order to keep the central records correct. A small admin fee may be required. Once Title registration is successful, then each claim becomes a beneficial share in the land trust [The Mars Trust]. The terms of the Deed will dictate how the shares may be transferred, but essentially we will ensure this to be possible … perhaps per a ‘tenants in common’ model.
They get to join us in our single [communal] claim of possession of Mars. Immediately upon acquisition, a new claimant can download a bundle of five claim certificates, a declaration of intent and a covernote. All certificates are PDF stamped for security and record keeping. The new claimants also get a separate Certificate of Authenticity – a digital certificate which is registered on the Bitcoin Blockchain. This guarantees a very ligh level of fidelity (hopefully absolute) in our records.
Well, we hope to, but we’ve only just started… and we DONT sell Deeds.  We issue Claim Certificates to those who join us in our verified Factual Possession of Mars.   Nobody but an accepted international body [like the UN]  can act as a Celestial Registry.  Only they could legally issue Deeds.  If there was a Celestial Registry, it would require any applying claimant to PROVE factual possession of their claimed land.  So we are very different from those other companies.  They have made no effort to demonstrate legal possession and yet they charge a lot of money for Deeds [which are labelled as novelty/novel gifts on their certificates].   I even have one for the Moon, gifted to me in 1997, and I DO enjoy it.  I appreciate it for what it is [a nice novelty gift]…. like a “World’s Best Dad Certificate.”  They sell novelty Deeds to 1 acre of Mars for $25 …  We would charge you 1 CENT for a 2 acre Claim!!! … and our Claim is completely legal [declaring acts of factual possession], so we do NOT have “novelty gift” printed on our Claim Certificates.   In terms of strength, we would absolutely state that we, together with our co-claimants, have the World’s strongest claim to ‘pre-entitlement’ of all land on Mars (i.e. we should be first-in-line if/when the law evolves to tolerate such celestial property rights).  We charge novelty item prices for something that is intended to prove VERY REAL!
Thats right!  In good faith we assert that we are in Factual Possession of Mars because of the activities we have been doing and documenting over the last 11 years.  Independent expert legal opinion agrees with this statement. Any new claimant will be joining us in this unique and valid act of possession.

We accept that within the current law we are unable to yet convert this possession into registered ownership… but we are certain that the law will evolve in the necessary direction.

So, our Claim Certificates may come with a novelty gift price-tag, but they are intended to be VERY REAL… and so DO NOT contain any stamp stating “Novelty Gift”,  unlike the expensive Deed certificates from all those other celestial “real estate” companies [which do have to carry that novelty gift stamp].
See the NEWS section of the website to see how the UK High Court Judge (and UK Government) agrees that such a claim might just prove to be valid under International Law.

Legal Aspects

Why does there need to be a new space treaty?
The existing Space Treaty is, potentially, a dead duck. In the Western World it is viewed as an inconvenience [see the US Space Act which clearly squeezes the treaty]. Ultimately it will be further marginalized … maybe even dropped. Why?.. because it is genuinely not good for business and is partially obstructive to some nations plans to weaponize space. But that would then mean we lose the Treaty’s strength against nuclear weapons. Already we have problems with malicious use of lasers against satellites and we also have concerns about dual-use equipment in space. Without the Treaty we will end up with a vacuum packed laser-nuke arsenal up there. Every space faring nation now thinks that space weaponization is inevitable. We think that we need a new space-biz friendly Top-Up Treaty which also blocks aggressive strike weapons, facilitates responsible commerce (mining etc) and controls/manages debris.
Unlike other companies that sell expensive novelty deeds, we are filing claims that confirm communal factual possession of land on Mars [not registering deeds]. This is REAL. We clearly advise all this prior to any claim being made. Expert independent legal opinion states that our actions are legal, our claim of possession is valid … and if the law evolves to tolerate celestial land ownership, then our claim should be first in line for consideration.
You’re right. Its difficult to give a short answer when we’ve done such a lot of scientific and legal work to get to our unique position now.

So if its detail you want, take a deep breath and go here:

https://themartians.org/legal/

So what is this all about. It is an imagined arbitration case held in an international court:

The Mars Land Claim [MARS REGISTER v. COPUOS].

The subject matter for the case is all real. We have 2 of the worlds most respected space lawyers appointed as judges. $1500 prizes.

Go here to find out about it: THE MARS PRIZE

Yes… but it does require the law to evolve towards tolerance of celestial land-property rights (we are sure this will happen, but might take 150 years). We think it is likely that our co-claimants family descendants will become Martian landowners. So look after those certificates and pass them down the family line.
Yes, and with respect to laser safety, we are not in breach of UK or International guidelines for outdoor laser use. This is not an area for complacence however. Strict standard operating procedures are observed.
Yes, our research suggest that what we have done should satisfy the proof requirements. Recently we commissioned Professor Frans von der Dunk (one of the worlds most elite scholars in this subject) to analyse our claim and produce a Legal reality Check. His report agrees that our actions are legal, including those actions he considers to be arguably representative of Factual Possession.
The consensus of experts and national governments is that Customary International Space Law does prevent all celestial land appropriation…. even a pan-multinational communal claim such as our. Our original opinion was that such a claim (involving people from all 195 world nations) would escape the ‘national appropriation’ prohibition. BUT … expert legal advisers have convinced us otherwise … whilst the construct of our claim may be ethically, morally and politically compelling, it still requires the interpretation of the Outer Space Treaty (not necessarily the text itself), within Customary International Law, to evolve towards tolerance of celestial land-property rights. Nevertheless, our expert legal advice states that our proposal may prove attractive to some state delegations at the UN … it states that if/when the law does become more favourable to property rights, our claim should be rightly first-in-line for consideration.
If in future we are successful in our applications for first registration of land on Mars, then the legal title will be awarded to All Mankind (to be held in trust by a UN committee) and beneficial ownership title goes to all our co-claimants.  A pro-business space-user group will govern all responsible land exploitation. Representation on the governing body will only be possible for space-faring nations once they have ratified an appropriate ‘top-up’ space treaty.
Yes, we assert this as part of our claimed single first possession of Mars.
So does this mean we would wish to go there on an early mission?…

Absolutely, hence we made numerous communications with Spacex and Mars-One [the latter always looked doomed, but a hat in the ring is always good].  We have over 10 years experience of working with top pilots and maintain a good interest in aviation and space medicine.  In future, funds permitting, we intend to offer multiple annual scholarships (and bursaries) in Space Studies to worthy applicants from within our members families … this we will help to deliver the astronauts and space engineers of tomorrow (and softly enhance the strength of our claim!).

In our business, a Mars land claim is an assertion of current factual possession of Mars and our intent to continue to possess Mars until the registration process. Implicit is also a demand that, whenever the law can feasibly permit, we must be awarded title ownership of Mars land on the basis of this enduring factual possession (since 2010)

A Deed is a formal document, awarded by an officially recognised body [in this case a celestial registry], to confirm entitlement to land [either legal or equitable] and serves as evidence of ownership. There is no legitimate celestial registry within the current legal framework and law.

We are conducting an ongoing act of possession of Mars, therefore we can legally invite others to join us in our “communal possession” through the act of making [‘staking’] a claim through our website.

We cannot award a Deed since we are not a legally recognised Registry. There is no such registry at present, although the need for one was forecast by three leading Yale University law professors back in 1963. There are internet companies issuing novelty deeds to celestial bodies, but of course, by stamping the deed with “this is a novel/novelty gift” they avoid any legal problems because the novelty deed document is not an actual deed.

Our claim certificates do not have any need for such a “get out of jail” stamp as it is an honest document which carries real legal intent.

  • 1. A comparision:

Novelty Mars Deed to 10 acres = $149

Mars Register Claim to 10 acres = $0.01 [1 cent] at the standard price [Earlybirds get to claim for FREE]!

  • 2. Which “tool” is more likely to actually get you land on Mars, the novelty deeds [from other websites] or the Mars Register Claim?…

Our answer: “All day long it’s the Mars Register Claim.”

We should of course expect this. If someone were to safely undertake laser applications to Mars and thus seek possession, we would first encourage them to join our communal claim. If they refused we would then need to consider our actions carefully; but we would wish to stop them [animus possidendi]. However, given that we are the only group of people to have been actively and openly documenting our laser applications to Mars for 11 years, we believe that our “time served” in legal possession should give us the strongest claim even if it were to be later contested or duplicated.
Our laser activity and admin work is mostly done at locations in UK and Ireland. We have done further work (including laser targetting of Mars) in other European locations as well as Caribbean and Indian Ocean locations (some ideal dark sky locations with minimal air traffic).

Science Aspects

Is laser light really hitting Mars?
Yes, as long as Mars is not too low in the sky, then our poweful laser light does escape the Earth’s atmosphere and go on to hit Mars. Even with a tightly collimated laser beam, divergence leads to a vast beam diameter by the time we get to Mars. So even when Mars is at its closest, our beam diameter may be 10-30 times the diameter of Mars. Anyway, even with a beam spread like that, we are showering nearly 10 quadrillion photons onto the ‘effective surface’ of Mars every second!! That’s also 300 photons per square metre per second. [with a 2000 mW (2W) blue laser].  In 2014 a 1W blue laser from Earth was visually detected on the ISS. A 2.5W blue laser was used recently to communicate a message from ISS to Earth in record time. We also use laser Morse Code messages to inform Mars [and beyond] of our ‘peaceful claim to Mars.’

 

Well yes, it has a ‘non-zero’ effect and we state that it is a positive beneficial effect. That is because it adds light and heat which can release CO2 [maybe water also] into the atmosphere and provide energy to primitive photosynthetic life.  Such additional heat [to get just a 3 degrees temp rise for the planet] is what will be required, on a MUCH larger scale, to make atmosphere generation successful for terraforming the planet.
We have not formally calibrated our lasers but in-formally they are sound. We buy from reputable companies who show much evidence [online] of their lasers undergoing formal testing.
We use SkyTechLasers and WickedLasers, both of Hong Kong. A few years back, WickedLasers got the Guinness Book of Records award for the Worlds most poweful handheld laser.
Well, in order to calculate the laser light intensity leaving Earth and then impacting on Mars, we make several assumptions and approximations. The calculations for Air Mass effect are less reliable at low angles [but we usually dont laser Mars when it is much under 10 deg alt]. Approximations are assumed for light absorbtion and reflection in our atmosphere. We also do not adjust for any atmospheric effects on Mars. We do not adjust for different atmospheric reactions to differing light wavelengths. We assume uniformity of laser beam [which is not true, but just means that if our aim is good then we get even more photons hitting Mars].

Mars moves through space at ~54,000 mph (86,700 kph) so has progressed more than 26000 miles (~42000 km) in 30 minutes. That’s 6 times the diameter of Mars.

Light time from Earth to Mars varies from 3 to 22 minutes. We do not do much laser application once the light time exceeds 17 minutes. The laser is precisely aligned to the telescope. We always keep Mars in the high-power FOV but, depending on the relevant light time, we do adjust the firing position in anticipation of Mars’ progression. The requirement is minimal/none when Mars is close at opposition (3 minutes light time each way). Although our powerful lasers comprise tightly collimated beams, the inevitable divergence is such that even when Mars is close at opposition, the beam width is almost 30 times the diameter of Mars. We do not miss our target.

Trivial actions are unlikely to be considered sufficient to justify factual possession. However, our actions here on Earth are definately not trivial. It takes a lot of learning, preparation and effort to deliver the repeated [could be viewed as constant over the 6 years to date] applications of laser light to Mars. The final effect of our laser light that is incident upon Mars may well be small [we estimated 2.5mW when Mars was close in May 2016], but it is definate and will have a non zero effect. Also, we assert it to be a beneficial non zero effect. This attempt at early development of Mars land and atmosphere [plus benefitting, even triggering, photosynthetic life] cannot ever be termed trivial.
Answer = Beneficial.

So Mars has H2O ice and CO2 dry ice in the polar regions and also just under the top soild elsewhere.  Extra heat/light would liberate more CO2 gas and liquid water.  There you have some building blocks for life. Primitive organic life, photosynthetic life, would thrive on more light [Mars is further from the Sun than Earth].  Studies have shown that some such plants thrive even more on a cocktail of ‘red with a dash of blue’ light compared to sunlight.  You might even encourage the growth of ‘dark plants’ [see the great cosmologist Carl Sagan’s ideas on these] which would absorb more heat and give out O2 as well.  If a greenhouse effect were to be generated on Mars to form an improved atmosphere then organic life could thrive, and in turn generate O2.  Our blue and red laser light is likely to benefit any primitive photosynthetic life that may be there already.  Also, note, scientists believe that powerful blue-UV light probably broke organic chemical bonds and helped trigger the spark of life on Earth.  Might we do that for Mars???

Yes, we’ve got them here. There’s plenty of science and math, presented in a logical manner, within the 40 slides in the “ABOUT” section.

The science and math page you want is right here: https://themartians.org/science-issues/

Joining Us: Payments, Certificates and Records

Payment
Secure payment takes place on our secure site celestialsales.com (look in the address bar for secure site certification). To join us and get a claim to 9-35 Sq Km of Mars land you make a small secure payment. You may pay using credit or debit card via Shopify or Paypal (or use your own Paypal account if you have one).
A standard claim relates to a random allocation of Mars land which will be in the size range 9-35 Sq Km (so huge … that’s up to 8500 acres!) A preference claim is one in which you stipulate the exact position of your claim (we use lat-long co-ordinates just as on Earth). It can be 35 Sq Km. See the rotating globe video on our media page for more info on preference claims.
NOTE: EarlyBird and Saver Claims are just the same as standard claims but are in limited in numbers and are expected to sell out quite early on.
Claims range from 9 to 35 Sq Km in size (HUGE!).

Standard claims are limited to a maximum of 100 per purchase process. You may buy up to 500 Priority Claims in one purchase transaction. Once you have chosen the claim and added name/DOB/address of certificate holder, you can see the content of your shopping cart. You can press the “+” value to input the number of claims you wish to purchase.

Immediately upon payment you should be delivered to a purchase confirmation page where you will also see a link to your downloadable certificate(s).
Within a couple of minutes you will get an email from CelestialSales confirming your purchase (including the number of claims made).
There will also be an email from SendOwl (downloadable product manager) with a link to your downloadable certificate package.

So, you get downloadable certificates (we no longer offer a print-and-post service which previously did add cost). If you have bought more than one claim, SendOwl will still supply one claim certificate package. You may either download it twice (if you purchased 2 claims) or simply copy it once downloaded. You also can type/print the name of the certificate holder in the space provided. A typical high street printer charges just $2 for 2 high quality parchment certificate prints … straight from your USB, disc, tablet or smartphone.

Note: the certificate package is about 6MB in size and contains 3 certificates (including a seasonal gift cert), our Declaration of Intent, and a covernote. Each certificate from the same transaction will have the same transaction number and email address printed on the very bottom pane.

We retain a record of the transaction number, number of claims, and the name(s), address/email & DOB for certification and registration purposes. Should we actually be successful in gaining title registration to Mars land via a UN approved Registry or Court process, then we will need to use these details. We don’t have sight of your financial details and these are not recorded.

Note: If you ever want confirmation of the number of claims you have purchased, just save the email from CelestialSales which contains these details together with a link to your purchase confirmation with unique transaction number.