In announcing a new Vision for the U.S. space program, early this year, President George Bush committed his nation to "a long term human and robotic program to explore the solar system, starting with a return to the Moon that will ultimately enable future exploration of Mars and other destinations." He also stated that "We'll invite other nations to share the challenges and opportunities of this new era of discovery. The vision I outline today is a journey, not a race, and I call on other nations to join us on this journey, in a spirit of cooperation and friendship." [Reference 1]rnOther nations have, or are developing, "exploration visions" of their own. The potential for international cooperation therefore exists, both at the vision and program/project levels.rnThis paper presents an approach for maximizing the return on all global investments in space exploration. It proposes an international coordination mechanism through which all of these various national activities could be integrated into an inherently global enterprise for space exploration, a "Virtual Program of Programs." Within the context of the coordination, individual activities would utilize the full range of cooperative mechanisms forrnimplementation. A significant benefit of this mode of conducting cooperation is that it would not require the negotiation of complex overarching international agreements as a precondition for initiating international activity aimed at exploring the Moon, Mars and beyond.
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