The Moon Society is a space advocacy

Space advocacy

Space advocacy can be described as the general position supporting, pleading or arguing for the idea or cause of space exploration and settlements...

 organization, founded in 2000, and dedicated to promoting large-scale human exploration, research, and settlement

Colonization of the Moon

The colonization of the Moon is the proposed establishment of permanent human communities on the Moon. Advocates of space exploration have seen settlement of the Moon as a logical step in the expansion of humanity beyond the Earth. Recent indication that water might be present in noteworthy...

 of the Moon

Moon

The Moon is Earth's only known natural satellite,There are a number of near-Earth asteroids including 3753 Cruithne that are co-orbital with Earth: their orbits bring them close to Earth for periods of time but then alter in the long term . These are quasi-satellites and not true moons. For more...

.

The objectives of the Society are:

• The creation of a spacefaring
  Spacefaring
  To be spacefaring is to be capable of and active in the art of space travel or space transport, the operation of spacecraft or spaceplanes. It involves a knowledge of a variety of topics and development of specialised skills including : aeronautics; astronautics; programs to train astronauts; space...
  
   civilization which will establish communities on the Moon; promotion of large-scale industrialization and private enterprise on the Moon;

• The promotion of interest in the exploration, research
  Research
  Research can be defined as the scientific search for knowledge, or as any systematic investigation, to establish novel facts, solve new or existing problems, prove new ideas, or develop new theories, usually using a scientific method...
  
  , development, and habitation of the Moon, through the media of conferences, the press, library and museum exhibits, and other literary and educational means;

• The support, by funding or otherwise, of scholarships, libraries, museums and other means of encouraging the study of the Moon and related technologies;

• The stimulation of the advancement and development of applications of space and related technologies, encouragement of entrepreneurial development thereof, and promote technology transfer
  Technology transfer
  Technology Transfer, also called Transfer of Technology and Technology Commercialisation, is the process of skill transferring, knowledge, technologies, methods of manufacturing, samples of manufacturing and facilities among governments or universities and other institutions to ensure that...
  
   from space to Earth;

• The bringing together of persons from government, industry, educational institutions, universities, the public press, and other walks of life for the exchange of information about the Moon;

• Promoting collaboration between various societies and groups interested in developing and utilizing the Moon;

• Informing the public at large on matters related to the Moon, and;

• The provision of suitable recognition and honor to individuals and organizations which have contributed to the advancement of the space exploration
  Space exploration
  Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
  
  , research, development, and habitation of the Moon, as well as scientific and technological developments related thereto.

Despite being a non-profit organization, the Moon Society has a strong emphasis on lunar mining, tourism

Space tourism

Space Tourism is space travel for recreational, leisure or business purposes. A number of startup companies have sprung up in recent years, hoping to create a space tourism industry...

, and other commercial activities. It plans to design and implement the first privately-funded and operated lunar base, calling the effort "Artemis Project

Artemis Project

The Artemis Project was a private venture to establish a permanent, self-supporting base on the Moon by 2002. It was named after Artemis, the goddess of the Moon and twin sister of Apollo . The project's creators, The Lunar Resources Company, formed the Artemis Society as a non-profit NGO in 1994...

'.

The Moon Society operates on a basis of educational outreach, friendly cooperation, and collaboration with other space advocacy

Space advocacy

Space advocacy can be described as the general position supporting, pleading or arguing for the idea or cause of space exploration and settlements...

 groups. On May 22, 2005, it became an autonomous affiliate of the National Space Society

National Space Society

The National Space Society is an international nonprofit 501, educational, and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy...

. Also, the Moon Society has cooperated on a number of fronts with the Mars Society

Mars Society

The Mars Society is an international space advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin and others in 1998 and attracted the support of notable science fiction writers and filmmakers, including Kim...

, despite the latter's official and grassroots culture, which tends to view the Moon as a distraction from Mars

Mars

Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...

.

Artemis Moonbase Simulation 1

The Moon Society held its first simulation exercise at the Mars Desert Research Station

Mars Desert Research Station

The Mars Desert Research Station is the second of four planned simulated Mars surface exploration habitats owned and operated by the Mars Society.-Background:...

 (MDRS) from February 25 to March 12, 2006. Eight researchers conducted projects aimed at learning about human factors

Human factors

Human factors science or human factors technologies is a multidisciplinary field incorporating contributions from psychology, engineering, industrial design, statistics, operations research and anthropometry...

 issues related to a Moon mission.

Affiliated publication

The Moon Miners' Manifesto which is provided with membership by the Moon Society has covered topics such as fresh space suit concepts, how Lunar everdark craters can prep us for expeditions to the outer Solar system and waypoints between here and destination Moon.

See also

• Space advocacy
  Space advocacy
  Space advocacy can be described as the general position supporting, pleading or arguing for the idea or cause of space exploration and settlements...
  
  
• Space colonization
  Space colonization
  Space colonization is the concept of permanent human habitation outside of Earth. Although hypothetical at the present time, there are many proposals and speculations about the first space colony...
  
  
• Space exploration
  Space exploration
  Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
  
  
• Vision for Space Exploration
  Vision for Space Exploration
  The Vision for Space Exploration is the United States space policy which was announced on January 14, 2004 by President George W. Bush. It is seen as a response to the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, the state of human spaceflight at NASA, and a way to regain public enthusiasm for space...
  
  

External links

• Moon Society Official website
• Lunarpedia Lunar development wiki