Around the time of the ill-fated shuttle mission STS-107 (the space shuttle mission that Ilan Ramon was on), I heard a shiur about the laws of space travel. One of the sources presented was from a rabbi who penned a teshuva wherein he argued that halacha does not apply off of planet earth. I remember it being from a 20th century source (I suppose the question was really purely theoretical until then anyway). This decision was not accepted by anyone else and several people wrote in opposition, but I really would like to know who the author of the original teshuva was. Does anyone know?
Answer
As per this answer and this answer, this idea was put forth by Rabbi Ben-Zion Firrer in an article in the 5730 issue of No'am.
A copy of the article is available here; a discussion of the opinion, including Rabbi M. M. Kasher's opposition, can be found here (Contemporary Halakhic Problems, R' J. David Bleich, vol 1, p211-212).
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