Mars / Alien Tort Statute

Missoulian: Scientists see red on NASA cuts of Mars missions

Mars Exploration Program
“"Curiosity is riding to Mars in the belly of a spacecraft, where an astronaut would be," explains Don Hassler of the Southwest Research Institute in Boulder, Colorado. "This means the rover experiences deep-space radiation storms in the same way that a real astronaut would."

Indeed, on Jan. 27th, 2012, Curiosity's spacecraft was hit by the most intense solar radiation storm since 2005. The event began when sunspot AR1402 produced an X2-class solar flare. (On the "Richter Scale of Solar Flares," X-flares are the most powerful kind.) The explosion accelerated a fusillade of protons and electrons to nearly light speed; these subatomic bullets were guided by the sun's magnetic field almost directly toward Curiosity.”

Missoulian: Justices weigh foreigners' suits vs. companies
KIOBEL V. ROYAL DUTCH PETROLEUM
“Whether the issue of corporate civil tort liability under the Alien Tort Statute ("ATS"), 28 U.S.C. § 1350, is a merits question, as it has been treated by all courts prior to the decision below, or an issue of subject matter jurisdiction, as the court of appeals held for the first time.”
Alien Tort Statute