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WHY THIS MATTERS IN BRIEF

ESA have laid out their plans to colonise the Moon by 2030.

 

The European Space Agency (ESA) is pressing forward with its plans to set up a permanent human outpost on the moon. Dubbed the “Moon Village” the vision will be the product of international collaboration between spacefaring nations and will act as the primary base of operations for science, business, mining and even tourism.

Johann-Dietrich Wörner, director general of the European Space Agency (ESA) told an audience in the Netherlands that the village will be able to be used by the international community as ESA looks to pave the way for manned missions to Mars – even though it looks like SpaceX’s CEO Elon Musk plans to bypass the moon and head straight for Mars itself in 2018.

“I think we should go first to the moon and then further on,” said Wörner, “and I wouldn’t call Mars the ultimate goal. I am quite sure humans will go further.” he added.

 

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Wörner said the term Moon Village was coined intentionally to help people understand the purpose of such an outpost.

“A village is something where different people with different capabilities and different opportunities come together to build a community,” he said. “But it’s not the sort of village that will have some houses and a church.”

The idea, he added, is to bring together a variety of different actors from the public and private sectors.

NASA aims to get astronauts into the vicinity of Mars by 2030 and this ambitious effort too will require broad international co-operation. Either way there’s a growing consensus that lunar exploration is going to get a big shot in the arm in the next decade thanks to rising interest in it from around the world – if for no other reason that the spacefaring states want to more accurately assess the moons potential – both as an outpost and as the place to push the boundaries of science even further.

One day you’ll look up at the Moon and someone will be looking back…

About author

Matthew Griffin

Matthew Griffin, described as “The Adviser behind the Advisers” and a “Young Kurzweil,” is the founder and CEO of the World Futures Forum and the 311 Institute, a global Futures and Deep Futures consultancy working between the dates of 2020 to 2070, and is an award winning futurist, and author of “Codex of the Future” series. Regularly featured in the global media, including AP, BBC, Bloomberg, CNBC, Discovery, RT, Viacom, and WIRED, Matthew’s ability to identify, track, and explain the impacts of hundreds of revolutionary emerging technologies on global culture, industry and society, is unparalleled. Recognised for the past six years as one of the world’s foremost futurists, innovation and strategy experts Matthew is an international speaker who helps governments, investors, multi-nationals and regulators around the world envision, build and lead an inclusive, sustainable future. A rare talent Matthew’s recent work includes mentoring Lunar XPrize teams, re-envisioning global education and training with the G20, and helping the world’s largest organisations envision and ideate the future of their products and services, industries, and countries. Matthew's clients include three Prime Ministers and several governments, including the G7, Accenture, Aon, Bain & Co, BCG, Credit Suisse, Dell EMC, Dentons, Deloitte, E&Y, GEMS, Huawei, JPMorgan Chase, KPMG, Lego, McKinsey, PWC, Qualcomm, SAP, Samsung, Sopra Steria, T-Mobile, and many more.

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