Moon Village Association and the National Space Society sign an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)

On Saturday, May 26, 2018 at the 37th International Space Development Conference (ISDC 2018) at the Sheraton Gateway Hotel in Los Angeles, California the leaders of the Moon Village Association (MVA) and the National Space Society (NSS) signed an historic Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to further their shared goals concerning the exploration, development and eventual settlement of Earth’s Moon and cis-Lunar space.

Mr. Mark Hopkins, Chair of the Executive Committee and Chief Executive Officer of the NSS signed for the Society, which is the leading non-profit grass-roots organization advancing the goal of space settlement, with an international, although predominately US membership of some roughly 10,000 individuals. The NSS, in addition to a diverse assortment of other activities, annually organizes the International Space Development Conference (ISDC). In 2018, this event was held in Los Angeles. This event includes the organization of an annual Moon Development and Settlement Symposium. In addition, the NSS organizes a “Space Settlement Summit” each year in the Fall, creating a forum for senior leadership discussions focused on the goal of space settlement.

Mr. John C. Mankins, Vice President of the MVA signed the Memorandum of Understanding on behalf of the Moon Village Association. The MVA is a recently-formed global Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), based in Vienna, Austria and focused on the goal of lunar exploration, development and eventual settlement. MVA organizes each year an “International Moon Village Workshop”. To accomplish its goals, the MVA has organized a number of working groups on diverse topics related to the exploration, development and settlement of the Moon. Moreover, the MVA is capitalizing on opportunities to expand its existing Global Network and global presence and has organized Regional organizations in a number of countries and regions around the world and is currently present in: China, The United States, Africa, Hungary, Cyprus, South America, Japan, Russia. The MVA plans to have such an allied organization in North America, which such affiliate will organize an annual Regional Event – along with similar events around the world and NSS valuable contribution in hosting the 2nd Moon Village International Workshop on November 4-5 2018, University of Southern California, The United States.

Mr. Mankins, who is both a Director on the NSS Board as well as Vice President of the MVA observed “this important new relationship will allow these two organizations to work together on a broad array of shared goals of importance – advancing the goal of expanding humanity’s presence and prosperity to the Moon and its vicinity.”
The purpose for the collaboration between the Moon Village Association and the National Space Society is to conjoin complementary scientific, technological, and organizational resources and capabilities that collectively could be applied to help reduce the costs, enhance the benefits, and accelerate timetables for future lunar exploration, development and settlement, ultimately enabling a sustainable human presence on the Moon and in cis-lunar space. In addition to incorporating the Moon into the global economy, accomplishing this goal would both improve the quality of life on Earth and facilitate the testing, validation, and application of innovative systems and protocols that could be applied to extend humankind’s reach to both Mars and other locations throughout our solar system, and eventually beyond.

For more information about ISDC 2018, visit: http://isdc2018.nss.org/

For more information about the 2nd Moon Village International Workshop on November 4-5 2018 visit: https://moonvillageassociation.org/come-to-los-angeles-for-isdc-2018/

For information about the 2017 MVA-ISU workshop: https://moonvillageassociation.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/MVA-International-Workshop-Final-Report.pdf

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