NASA Coached Team Wins World Space Law Competition

The team coached by Steve Mirmina, a NASA attorney on the agency’s Office of the General Counsel Commercial and International Law Practice Team, won the world championship of the Manfred Lachs Space Law Moot Court Competition in Fukuoka, Japan.

Kristie Blase and Olivia Hussey, two former interns in the General Counsel’s Office, were the winning team members on Oct. 20. The competition was sponsored by the International Institute of Space Law.

Blase is a third year law student at George Washington University, Washington. Hussey is a George Washington University graduate, and she works for the Department of Justice in Washington. The team previously won first place in the North American Finals of the competition in April, besting eight other teams from the United States, Mexico, and Canada.

Arguing before judges from Japan, Sierra Leone and Russia of the International Court of Justice, they defeated the team from the National University of Singapore, the winners of the Asia-Pacific Regional Round. Blase and Hussey defeated the University of Cambridge, England, the European winner in the semi-finals.

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