Those of you who have been following the Codex and its predecessor for a while now will recall that, back in 2013, it was revealed that Richard Garriott had become the owner of two objects on the surface of the Moon: the Luna 21 lander and the Lunokhod 2 rover.

Evidently, though, the people who run the Space Archaeology blog weren’t aware of this, and thus had a spirited conversation with Richard Garriott via Twitter — about his ownership of the lander and rover, and the politics and economics surrounding ownership of objects on the Moon — back in January.

It’s worth a read in full, but here are a couple choice quotes from Lord British:

@spacearcheology I am "The only private owner of an object on any other celestial body!" I claim the 40 km track from lander to rover!

— Richard Garriott (@RichardGarriott) January 8, 2015

@drspacejunk @spacearcheology I believed the 1st private ownership off earth was historically significant. Only time I have bid live!

— Richard Garriott (@RichardGarriott) January 8, 2015

@drspacejunk @spacearcheology Important note, my rover is not "junk" rather mirrors still in use as reflectors for earth/moon measurement.

— Richard Garriott (@RichardGarriott) January 8, 2015

It’s that last one, I think, that’s particularly interesting.