Bear wrote: Note the commentary that it was "strictly a symbolic activity, as the United Nations Treaty on Outer Space precluded any territorial claim."

I thought it would be useful to post the US Dept of State's link to the actual outer space treaty: http://www.state.gov/www/global/arms/treaties/space1.html The treaty section of interest to me is: "...The establishment of military bases, installations and fortifications, the testing of any type of weapons and the conduct of military maneuvers on celestial bodies shall be forbidden. The use of military personnel for scientific research or for any other peaceful purposes shall not be prohibited. The use of any equipment or facility necessary for peaceful exploration of the Moon and other celestial bodies shall also not be prohibited..." this doesn't seem to expressly prohibit the activity referred to in the US Navy press release I sent out earlier today, but at the same time the spirit of the outer space treaty doesn't seem to support the navy/SIGINT activities, either. phillip