{"id":19226,"date":"2016-09-29T01:35:04","date_gmt":"2016-09-28T17:35:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-productionenv-bjg9h2g2bgg5b8aa.southeastasia-01.azurewebsites.net\/news\/a-virtual-marketplace-for-a-future-moon-village-the-faa-just-might-make-it-happen\/"},"modified":"2016-09-29T01:35:04","modified_gmt":"2016-09-28T17:35:04","slug":"a-virtual-marketplace-for-a-future-moon-village-the-faa-just-might-make-it-happen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starpath.global\/news\/a-virtual-marketplace-for-a-future-moon-village-the-faa-just-might-make-it-happen\/","title":{"rendered":"A virtual marketplace for a future Moon Village? The FAA just might make it happen"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Moon
An artist\u2019s conception shows a permanent lunar base that\u2019s part of the European Space Agency\u2019s \u201cMoon Village\u201d vision. (Credit: ESA)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

GUADALAJARA, Mexico \u2013 If the world wants to create a village on the moon, the Federal Aviation Administration is willing to start up an online trading post for lunar services.<\/p>\n

George Nield, the FAA\u2019s associate administrator for commercial space transportation, says he doesn\u2019t even need to wait for the village to be built.<\/p>\n

Nield offered to set up what he called LMASS \u2013 the Lunar Marketplace and Swap Shop \u2013 during one of today\u2019s sessions at the International Astronautical Congress in Guadalajara.<\/p>\n

\u201cThink of it as a corkboard,\u201d Nield said. The potential traders could include businesses that are working on ways to move cargo from low Earth orbit to lunar orbit, or on moon landers, or on habitats, or surface transportation, or communication services, or other technologies that will eventually be needed for lunar operations.<\/p>\n

\"George
George Nield, the FAA\u2019s associate administrator for commercial space transportation, pays a visit to the SpaceShipOne rocket plane in the Smithsonian\u2019s National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. (Credit: FAA file)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Nield brought up the idea of creating LMASS during a session focusing on the European Space Agency\u2019s Moon Village concept. While NASA officials highlight the \u201cJourney to Mars,\u201d ESA and its director general, Jan Woerner, have been championing the Moon Village as a model for lunar surface operations.<\/p>\n

Woerner said he saw no conflict between NASA\u2019s Mars focus and ESA\u2019s moon focus. \u201cOn the Journey to Mars, I think the Moon Village is a perfect pit stop,\u201d he told the IAC audience.<\/p>\n

This village doesn\u2019t need a mayor, a government or even a town name, Woerner said. Rather, the village serves as a metaphor for a style of international collaboration that guarantees \u201cfree and open access\u201d to lunar resources as bases take shape in the 2020s.<\/p>\n

What does NASA think of all this? Deputy Administrator Dava Newman said the space agency\u2019s push for sending astronauts to the Red Planet and its moons in the 2030s \u201cdefinitely includes going from Earth, to moon cislunar [space], to Mars.\u201d<\/p>\n

However, NASA isn\u2019t likely to take the lead role on the moon\u2019s surface. Instead, the main interest in the moon is coming from other countries, and from commercial ventures. Nield said that Woerner\u2019s Moon Village concept sparked \u201ca tremendous reaction\u201d from the companies that his agency serves in its role as a facilitator of commercial space activities.<\/p>\n