7.5 Special Protection to Astronaut in Outer Space

The astronauts' status — "the envoys of mankind" (the OST's phrase): The aid duty (Article VIII OST): all possible assistance to the astronauts in accident-distress- or-emergency landing — the humanitarian obligation; The Rescue Agreement 1968 (the treaty's elaboration): the notification-and-rescue duties (the launch's authority informing; the states assisting); the safe-and-prompt return of the personnel (the sovereignty's surrender: the landed astronaut's return to the launching authority — no detention, no asylum for the distressed astronaut); the space-objects' return (the found objects' duty-to-return: the owner's restitution); The safety's cooperation faces: the dangerous-phenomena's notification (the OST Article IX's harmful-interference duty); the astronauts's-status questions' modern faces (the commercial spaceflight's participants — the "astronaut vs. spaceflight participant" debate).