space groups united

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Leading Space Groups Agree:
It's Time For The Moon, Mars And Beyond

In an unprecedented show of unity, thirteen of the
nation's premier
space advocacy groups, industry associations and space
policy
organizations have teamed up to support the effort to
refocus NASA's
human space activities toward exploration, including a
return to the
Moon and moving on to Mars and beyond.

The organizations involved include: Aerospace
Industries
Association, Aerospace States Association, American
Astronautical
Society, American Institute of Aeronautics and
Astronautics,
California Space Authority, Florida Space Authority,
The Mars
Society, National Coalition of Spaceport States,
National Space
Society, The Planetary Society, ProSpace, Space Access
Society and
Space Frontier Foundation.

Collectively these groups can count almost one million
Americans as
members or as employees of member companies. Their
first goal as a
group is to work for broad Congressional support of
the new national
vision for space exploration outside of low earth
orbit, which they
refer to as Moon, Mars and Beyond. To begin they
will work to
secure first year funding for the initiative, which
they view as a
necessary first step for in-depth planning of the
exploration program
to commence in earnest.

In addition they intend to aggressively refute the
false impression
that Moon, Mars and Beyond is too expensive for this
country to take
on. They will demonstrate how modest but steady
growth in our
national expenditures on space can move the nation
toward these
important goals, and the benefits those expenditures
will provide.

As space activity becomes increasingly integrated with
every aspect
of life here on earth, this new focus on exploration
will provide
myriad advances in science and technology, untold
economic
opportunity and serve as an inspiration to our
nation's youth. Given
those benefits and the many more that lie in store,
this new program
of human space exploration beyond low earth orbit is a
vital link to
the future of the United States and the world.

####
For further information about this effort, please
contact:
Tim Huddleston, Aerospace States Association
(256) 782-5972 (thuddleston@...)
Bruce Mahone, Aerospace Industries Association
(703) 358-1095 (bruce@...)
Marc Schlather, ProSpace
(703) 753-6887 (mschlather@...)