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Yemen sues NASA over Mars invasion

"Mars is ours, we inherited it". With this belief, three citizens of Yemen sued NASA, claiming Mars.

Categories Space Agencies

This story is absurd! Reading this story, you might think it was all made up, but it really happened: Yemen sued NASA for invading Mars. It’s 1997, and the whole world is watching, ecstatic and hopeful, the event that would mark the beginning of a new era in space exploration. The Sojourner rover became the first rover to arrive on the surface of Mars. At last mankind has succeeded in arriving on another planet – an incredible achievement that will allow us to reach ever higher goals. But while Sojourner is beginning to acclimatise on Mars, not everyone on Earth feels the same way. Three Yemenis are annoyed by this event and decide to try and sue NASA.

The reasons why Yemen is suing NASA over the Mars invasion

The sentence ‘Yemen sues NASA for invading Mars’ is not entirely accurate. In fact, it would be more accurate to say that only three Yemenis have attempted to sue NASA. The motivation, however, remains the same and continues to be absurd. The three protagonists of this bizarre story are Adam Ismail, Mustafa Khalil and Abdullah al-Umari. The three Yemenis were not at all happy about the Americans landing on Mars. In fact, they claimed that they owned Mars and had documents to prove it. The origins of this absurd claim lie in the past, 3000 years ago. According to them, the three Yemenites inherited Mars from the Sabeans and Himyarites, the peoples from whom they descended and who possessed the seven planets then known. This belief stems from having interpreted a phrase of their deities, ‘Yours shall be the heavens’, as an actual act of ownership.

“Marte è nostra, l’abbiamo ereditata”. With this belief, three Yemeni citizens sued NASA, claiming Mars.
Richard Cook, mission manager of Pathfinder. Credit: NASA

The claims of the three Yemeni citizens who sued NASA, claiming Mars

While the motivations behind the lawsuit may seem bizarre, the claims the three Yemenis made to NASA are even more so. Believing themselves to be the owners of the planet, they wanted control over the newly-manned Pathfinder mission. They demanded that, until a final verdict was reached, NASA should halt all activity on Martian soil and relinquish control to them. In addition, subsequent discoveries about the Martian atmosphere, surface or gravity would have to pass through their hands for scrutiny and approval before being released. With these demands, three citizens of Yemen tried to sue NASA, claiming Mars. It is worth noting that this was only an attempt, as no judge upheld the case. The three Yemenis were not satisfied with this outcome, so they created deeds to the property the following year. Not content with that, they also began selling plots of Martian land at $2 per square metre.

This planet is mine! The legal ownership of celestial bodies

With Yemen suing NASA for invading Mars, the opportunity arises to explore an interesting topic. Can you own a planet or a moon? Does mine or yours exist in space? No. An international treaty on ownership in space from 1967 states that no government or individual can own an extraterrestrial object. This means that even if Americans were the first to arrive on Mars, that does not make them the owners. Similarly, an alleged ancient heritage cannot claim ownership of a planet.

Since 1967, however, the world has changed, space exploration has gone on and on and on. So, with future achievements in space, the concept of ownership in space will need to be better defined.

Credit: NASA Science, Mars Exploration Program

The Pathfinder mission: Yemen and the cause of the clash with NASA over Mars ownership

As mentioned earlier, the three Yemeni citizens tried to sue NASA for the invasion of Mars by the Pathfinder mission. The Mars Pathfinder mission left on 4 December 1996 and arrived on Mars, on the Mars Ares Vallis, on 4 July 1997. This mission brought the first rover to the Red Planet and was able to collect a considerable amount of data. Both the lander and the rover carried instruments for scientific observations of the Martian atmosphere, climate and geology. The success of the mission was also made possible by a new method of entering the atmosphere. Mars Pathfinder used a parachute to slow its descent through the Martian atmosphere and used a giant airbag system to cushion the impact.

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