The Secure World Foundation has committed $66,000 to enhance the work The Planetary Society is doing with other international organizations to create the ILD. See here for more details.

"Many nations have set their sights on the Moon," said Louis Friedman, Executive Director of The Planetary Society. "Such worldwide interest calls for worldwide cooperation - an International Lunar Decade that will begin next year with the expected launches of Chinese and Japanese missions, and will continue until 2019, the target date set by the U.S. for a human return to the Moon. We are grateful to the Secure World Foundation for their involvement."

India, the United States, Russia, and Italy are also planning lunar missions, and the European Space Agency recently completed its SMART-1 lunar orbiter mission.

The International Lunar Exploration Working Group and the Committee on Space Research (COSPAR) have already endorsed The Planetary Society's call for an International Lunar Decade, and the concept has been presented to the International Astronautical Federation General Assembly for consideration.

The Society will present the ILD concept next year to the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (COPUOS). The Planetary Society is a non-governmental (NGO) consultative member of COPUOS.

"The International Lunar Decade provides an opportunity for the world to combine our talents and our dreams to develop cooperative, sustainable and secure systems for moving out into the global commons of space," said Cynda Collins Arsenault, President of the Secure World Foundation. "We are pleased to work with The Planetary Society, who has long recognized the importance of this new frontier."

An International Lunar Decade will help nurture the popular vision needed to sustain political support in each of the spacefaring nations planning lunar missions and will help further both science cooperation and mission coordination. A cohesive framework will also enable scientists from many nations - in addition to those conducting missions - to gain support for lunar studies.

The Planetary Society and Secure World Foundation hope to provide an opportunity for young scientists, particularly in developing countries, to gain more public and private support for lunar research in their nations. Both organizations believe that international cooperation will enhance peaceful exploration of space.

Calling for a unified approach has precedent in the scientific community. Previous examples include the International Geophysical Year, the International Polar Year, and the International Space Year. Just as those "years" were not always literal (some extended to twice that length), the proposed International Lunar Decade (ILD) is not exactly ten years.

The International Lunar Decade should begin in 2007 to coincide with a year that marks the 50th anniversary of Sputnik and will see the expected launches of Japan's SELENE and China's Chang'E lunar missions. The "decade" will end twelve years later in 2019 with a human mission to the Moon.

2007 is also the 40th anniversary of the Outer Space Treaty, which called for broad international cooperation in the scientific, as well as the legal, aspects of the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes.

The Planetary Society, in coordination with The Planetary Society of Japan and the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA), is already helping to raise public awareness of Japan's SELENE mission with the "Wish Upon the Moon" campaign. The Society is collecting names and messages to send to the Moon on SELENE. Learn more about the "Wish Upon the Moon" campaign at here.

earlier related report
NSS Statement On NASA Release Of Global Exploration Strategy And Lunar Architecture
Washington (SPX) Dec 05 - The National Space Society (NSS) has announced the launch of the NSS Space Settlement Nexus, a public Internet portal that offers unlimited access to the most comprehensive collection of documents, studies and other resources concerning Space Settlement and related issues.

Timed to coincide with NASA's release earlier today of the agency's Global Exploration Strategy and Lunar Architecture, the unveiling of the NSS Space Settlement Nexus underscores the National Space Society's continued strong support for NASA's Vision for Space Exploration and the placement of Space Settlement at the center of NASA's long-term plans.

"At a time when the country and the world are calling for a positive direction, NASA's space exploration program offers a path of growth, discovery and hope," said George Whitesides, Executive Director of the National Space Society. "The global exploration strategy makes a bold statement that we are going back to the Moon to stay."

The National Space Society traces its founding principles to the innovative concepts of Dr. Gerard K. O'Neill, the Princeton professor who advanced the field of Space Settlement in the 1970s and 1980s. The NSS Space Settlement Nexus includes comprehensive coverage of Dr. O'Neill's work, as well as related resources on the settlement of the Moon, Mars and asteroids.

"Today's announcement places the expansion of humanity at the center of NASA's exploration program," said Mark Hopkins, Senior Vice President of NSS. "This decision validates the belief of Dr. O'Neill - and thousands of NSS members worldwide - that Space Settlement can deliver nearly unlimited resources, growth and prosperity."

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Related Links
The Planetary Society's Plans For The Lunar Decade
Secure World Foundation
International Lunar Decade Here Wish Upon the Moon
National Space Society
Settlement Nexus
Lunar Dreams and more
Mars News and Information at MarsDaily.com
Lunar Dreams and more