Wanna buy a piece of the Moon?

US company plans to sell land on the moon to Chinese

A US company has set up operations in China to sell land on the moon
for 289 yuan (37 dollars) an acre, cashing in on renewed interest in
space travel after the successful five-day voyage of Shenzhou VI.

The so-called Lunar Embassy, touted as the first extraterrestrial
estate agency, started operations Wednesday in Beijing, the China
Daily reported.

It will issue customers a "certificate" that ensures property
ownership, including rights to use the land and minerals up to three
kilometresmiles) underground, said Li Jie, agent for the company in
China.

"We define it as a kind of novelty gift with the potential of
unlimited increase in value," said Li.

Lunar Embassy was set up by US entrepreneur Dennis Hope in 1980, 11
years after the Apollo II mission first landed people on the moon.

Hope believes a loophole in the 1967 UN Outer Space Treaty makes his
property sales legitimate. The agreement forbids governments from
owning extraterrestrial property but fails to mention corporations or
individuals.

Hope said he has 3.5 million customers, including politicians and
movie stars, who had purchased land on the moon.

The report said China is the eighth country to have a Lunar Embassy
after the United States, Germany, Britain, Ireland, Australia, New
Zealand and Japan.

Li said he had received more than 400 telephone orders from Chinese in
the past few days.

The company could run into problems in China, though, with the
Chaoyang District branch of Beijing's Administration for Industry and
Commerce launching an investigation.

The Beijing News cited Chaoyang bureau staff as saying sale of land on
the moon was not listed as the company's business when it was
registered.

Shenzhou VI, China's second manned space flight, successfully returned
to earth on Monday. It carried astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng
around the globe for five days, sparking patriotic celebrations across
the country.

© 2005 AFP
.

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