By Mclee Kerolle
Hi everyone, I am Mclee Kerolle and I am a member of the EAGLE Team. For my first blog post, I just want to take this time out to address my fellow EAGLE Team members, our supporters, and everyone who eventually ends up on this page.
To the EAGLE Action Team:
Starting with my fellow EAGLES from the Action Team, I just want to say ’Thank you’. Who would have thought that almost a year later we are now at the precipice of something truly historic? I’m not using that word loosely either. I mean ‘historic’ in every sense of the word. Outside the Moon Agreement, this is the first time something is being proposed to the UN that specifically addresses lunar governance. This is nothing short of spectacular. Our Lunar Governance Report has the potential to make history. Even if I’m being overly-optimistic, at the very least, it helps get an extremely important conversation started. With all that said, again, thank you to the EAGLE Action Team. Can’t wait for the moment when travel is normal again and we can celebrate our hard work (because celebrations are definitely in order).
To our supporters:
I just want to reiterate why the moment is now. Presumably if you’re reading the blog, you’ve read our deliverables. Even if you haven’t, it’s not hard to see that in terms of lunar governance, time is of the essence. From landing the first woman and the first person of color on the moon via NASA’s Artemis Program to Nokia being selected to build the first cellular network on the moon, among other things, it’s a fact that humanity is en route to returning and establishing ourselves on the moon. Yet, there’s no international treaties, guidelines, or principles set in place for when this happens. The pace of space development is moving at a rapid rate, and it’s better to help move history forward than to watch it repeat itself. What we have here is the rare opportunity of foresight to avoid ‘Colonialism 2.0’ from happening on the moon.
To everyone:
What amazes me about what we’ve done is 1) the timing of it all, 2) the team itself. Like many events in 2020, this experience was already unique in that the EAGLE Action Team formed a few months into a worldwide pandemic. On top of that, social movements were taking shape all across the world (specifically, the Black Lives Matter Movement). It’s ironic to think about it but surprisingly, this space policy work really helped me remain grounded. We still continued to meet twice, sometimes three times a week. It was difficult, but having a schedule where we worked on something that is truly bigger than us collectively was a blessing. At the time I couldn’t help but to think about how our work ,in a way, parallels what was happening in the United States in the 1960s; NASA was getting ready for the Apollo Moon Landing while the Civil Rights Protests were happening. Regardless if history repeats itself or not, what you’re reading now is connected to the future of lunar governance development.
It’s a beautiful thing when you look at the Team page on the Manifesto. Personally I believe that there is always more room for diversity. However, when you look at our team page, we naturally happened to pull off diversity pretty well. While the team only consisted of 14 of us, I hope these demographics are one day indicative of how the space industry at large may resemble.
Ultimately, for me, I think what we have here is the result of desire, initiative, great leadership and serendipity. Serendipity takes shape in the form that is effectively my last year as part of SGAC, yet my most impactful. It’s hard to appreciate the gravitas of the moment while you’re simultaneously still in the moment. What I can say, is that we created something special that I know I’ll never forget.
Post Scriptum:
Here’s an exclusive behind-the-scenes look in our deliverables process. Something a few of us wanted to include in our Manifesto was the initial email that, on June 17, 2020, Antonino sent out to the entire SGAC organisation calling on members to apply to the EAGLE Action Team. While we ultimately decided not to include it in the Manifesto, I’ve included the email below to give readers insight as to what the majority of the Team said inspired us to become part of history in the first place:
