2026 Symposium on Humanity’s Lunar Future – in Celebration of International Moon Day
August 14 @ 09:00 – 17:00
Huntsville, Alabama played a key role in NASA’s successful exploration of the Moon, including the first human landing on the Moon in July 1969. This year, some 57 years following that first landing, astronauts returned: circling the Moon during an April 1-11 mission under the auspices of the Artemis program. Exciting plans and programs are now underway to continue the exploration and development of the Moon – including a permanent Moon Base in the lunar south polar region.
In 2021, the Moon Village Association (MVA) proposed to the United Nations (UN) the creation of a global annual commemoration of the Apollo 11 landing, “International Moon Day” (IMD). In response, a year later in 2022, Drake State Community and Technical College in Huntsville organized and hosted the first highly-successful “Main Event” of the then newly-created IMD celebration.
This year, a Symposium on the topic of Humanity’s Lunar Future is being organized in Huntsville on 14 August 2026 as an International Moon Day “Global Event”, supporting the overall theme of this year’s IMD: “To the Moon Together”. This IMD Global Event will engage thought-leaders, engineers, scientists and managers who are developing and accomplishing the vision of permanent lunar presence and activity. The symposium will provide an overview of the lunar opportunities, plans and programs, and will comprise participants from across academia, industry, government and non-government organizations.
