Colonization of the Moon to reach the moon, to offer a hand . . . . The idea is to spread the costs, but also spread the wealth." In 2016, Johann-Dietrich Wörner, the Chief of ESA, proposed the International Moon Village as a non-governmental organization (NGO), and in November 2017, the Moon Village Association was created. This organization aims to promote international discussions to foster the implementation of a permanent human settlement near the lunar south pole. Exploration of the lunar surface by spacecraft began in 1959 with the Soviet Union's Luna program. Luna 1 missed the Moon, but Luna 2 made a hard
Colonization of the Moon Constellation program). On June 18, 2009, NASA's LCROSS/LRO mission to the moon was launched. The LCROSS mission was designed to acquire research information to assist with future lunar exploratory missions and was scheduled to conclude with a controlled collision of the craft on the lunar surface. LCROSS's mission concluded as scheduled with its controlled impact on October 9, 2009. In 2010, due to reduced congressional NASA appropriations, President Barack Obama halted the Bush administration's earlier lunar exploration initiative and directed a generic focus on crewed missions to asteroids and Mars, as well as extending support for the International Space Station.