The astronauts placing a flag on the moon was not "claiming ownership" no more than anyone climbing Mt. Everest doing the same thing. It was just to prove that we had been there. Otherwise their would have been a statement of ownership (something similar to "I claim this new land in the name of Her Majesty the Queen). Which makes me wonder why you would fly to England when it seems to me they started the U.S. as colonies in the first place.