QUESTION:
If valuable minerals are found on Mars, who would have the right to them?
 
ANSWER from Steve Wall on February 3, 1997:
This is a question that needs a lot of thought, and it doesn't have
any obvious answer.  Historically, the discoverer of new lands has 
"claimed" those lands, and whatever valuable minerals or other things 
they contained, for him/herself, or in the name of someone else (like
a country or its king, for example).  If history is any guide, this 
same thing may happen when valuable things are found on other planets. 
In the case of the moon, no claim has been made for ownership by any
party as far as I know.

You might also ask the Planetary Society, in Pasadena, California, for
their answer to this intriguing question.  Look in your library for
examples of past explorers.  In the end it will be the leaders of our
countries who will determine how property rights will be decided in 
space.

(The URL for the Planetary Society on the Internet is:
http://www.transatlantech.com/tps/  )