| ▲ | ethan_smith 3 days ago |
| Under the 1967 Outer Space Treaty, the moon is considered international territory ("province of all mankind"), so technically they were returning from outside US jurisdiction, triggering customs requirements. |
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| ▲ | soneil 3 days ago | parent | next [-] |
| That's the whole point of the parent comment - you don't trigger customs requirements by leaving and re-entering the country. You trigger them by entering from another country. for example - you don't need a passport to travel from the US mainland to Hawaii. It doesn't matter that the aircraft cross international waters, it matters what country you were in last. |
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| ▲ | bdamm 3 days ago | parent | next [-] | | This is all kind of too reductionist. The US DHS agents in the US make a choice not to fuss over the airplanes or even cruise ships sailing from US ports to Hawaii and back. They could, but they don't. They probably validate the ship or plane's location via transponder, but it wouldn't even surprise me if they don't do that for regular commercial transport. This kind of local and specific policy is great and it is enacted in lots of places within US jurisdiction. | |
| ▲ | mytailorisrich 3 days ago | parent | prev [-] | | You are entering from "another country" if you are coming from the Moon. For this purpose "country" has to be interpret as stepping on any land outside of the US. | | |
| ▲ | 9rx 3 days ago | parent | next [-] | | > For this purpose "country" has to be interpret as stepping on any land outside of the US. "Land" is legally (and generally) defined as pertaining to planet earth. In this case the crew did not step on any land outside of the US. The moon does not have land. | | |
| ▲ | mytailorisrich 2 days ago | parent | next [-] | | I wrote in general and generic terms. Apollo 11 demonstrated that one can "set foot" on the Moon. So don't call it 'land' if that creates issues with existing laws and treaties on property rights but the point remains. | |
| ▲ | vntok 3 days ago | parent | prev [-] | | > "Land" is legally defined as pertaining to planet earth. Interesting. Where have you read this? Intuitively, it seems very weird for a lawmaker to specify the planet the law would apply to. |
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| ▲ | zaps 2 days ago | parent | prev [-] | | THE MOON BELONGS TO AMERICA |
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| ▲ | umanwizard 3 days ago | parent | prev [-] |
| The trip as described passed through foreign territorial waters and probably also international waters. |
