![]() Instead, it would enable countries to participate as much or as little as they chose, based on their capabilities and their interests. What appeals to me about that kind of a vision is that it minimizes the requirement for a very prescriptive, top-down management structure with one country specifying the architecture and calling all of the shots. “A Moon Village,” he said, “shouldn’t just mean some houses, a church and a town hall.” Instead, he said, the village “should mean partners from all over the world contributing with robotic and astronaut missions and support communications satellites.” Woerner’s vision for space exploration involves the establishment of what he calls a “Moon Village” on the far side of the moon. Woerner served as chairman of the executive board of DLR, the German Aerospace Center, from March 2007 until June 2015, and took over as ESA chief on July 1. When it came time to talk about plans for the future, I was particularly impressed with the comments made by Johann-Dietrich Woerner, the new director-general of the European Space Agency. Other nations, of course, have no such restrictions. One notable exception, which was clearly articulated during the discussion, had to do with the inability of NASA to partner with China on specific space projects, based on constraints in existing law. I was pleasantly surprised by the spirit of cooperation that all conveyed. NASA Administrator Charlie Bolden and representatives from Russia, China, the European Space Agency, Japan, India and Israel were seated on the stage and had a chance to share their perspectives and answer questions from the moderators. One of the highlights of the conference itself was a plenary session featuring the leaders of almost all of the major space agencies from around the world. And the presence of such an incredible diversity of cultures and religions, with people living and working together in a surprisingly compact geographical area, highlighted some of the challenges and opportunities that we are facing in figuring out how to collaborate on our future space activities. Having an opportunity to participate in an international conference focused on space exploration in a city having thousands of years of history made for some dramatic contrasts between old and new. Now that we are back home, safe and sound, I can honestly say that it was a truly amazing experience, and I am very glad that I went. On the other hand, the recent episodes of violence and the often-conflicting guidance about personal safety and security caused me to continually reassess the risks and rewards during each phase of my itinerary. Since I had never been to that part of the world before, I was very much looking forward to the trip. ![]() I will confess that in the days leading up to the event, I was feeling rather conflicted. Recently I had the privilege of attending the 66th International Astronautical Congress (IAC) in Jerusalem.
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