What is International Moon Day?
The United Nations General Assembly declared 20th July as the International Moon Day (IMD), to be celebrated annually. The UN proclamation of the IMD was made in December 2021 from Nicosia, Cyprus, with the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) and Cyprus as founding members.
IMD was an initiative of the Moon Village Association (MVA) and the UN Office of Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), approved by the UN General Assembly on 9th December 2021 and announced in cooperation with the Cyprus Space Exploration Organisation (CSEO) who hosted the global announcement from Nicosia shortly after, on 14th December 2021:
IMD Proclamation - International Announcement
The official date, 20th July, was selected to mark the day that humanity first stepped on the Moon, with Neil Armstrong in 1969.
As humans are returning to the Moon after so many decades, this day aims to show the importance of humanity's peaceful cooperation for a global effort in exploring our neighbouring celestial body and creating permanent scientific bases on its surface.

How will it be celebrated this year in Cyprus?
On Friday 21st July, CSEO, with the cooperation of the CYENS Centre of Excellence and the support of the Nicosia Municipality, will be hosting an Open Day to celebrate IMD 2023 at their research centres in Old Nicosia. It will include a space exhibition, interactive displays, presentations, documentaries and celebrations marking humanity’s fascination and exploration of the Moon.
The festivities will begin at 12:00 noon, when CSEO opens its doors to the public to experience its ‘Apollo to Artemis’ exhibition that was created with the support of the US Embassy and explores NASA’s Missions to the Moon. The exhibition starts with the Apollo Mission and the first human on the Moon and then takes a detailed look at Apollo 17, the last crewed mission to the Moon.
The exhibition also gives the public the opportunity to touch a piece of the Moon as it includes a lunar meteorite, as well as a very close look at a small Martian rock.
The evening will begin at 7pm with a short talk on the importance of IMD, as well as various documentaries and fun demonstrations by both CSEO and CYENS.
The square in front of CYENS and CSEO’s Research Centres - Plateia Dimarchou Lellou Dimitriadi (formerly Plateia Dimarchias) - will be the focal point of our outdoor celebrations with music and telescopes for viewing of the Moon. Local businesses involved with the night's celebrations will be supplying refreshments and snacks throughout the night.

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What is the programme?
21st July 2023
12:00 - CSEO Exhibition open
18:00 - Arrival of invited guests
18:30 - Brief speeches
19:00 - IMD celebration open to public
19:00 - 20:00 - CYENS demonstrations
19:00 - 21:00 - Documentary screenings
20:00 - 22:00 - Telescopes & outdoor party

Which documentaries will be screened?
19:00 - 'One Hour that Changed the World: Moon Landing' (2022) (45 min)
The Moon Landing celebrates the historic 50th anniversary of Apollo 11, in a fresh and distinctive style. This inspiring documentary subverts usual conventions by beginning with the momentous event, before rewinding the clock to explore the preceding dramatic sixty minutes in granular detail.
20:00 - 'Crisis On Apollo 13' (2020) (23 min)
On the 50th Anniversary of Apollo 13, Commander Jim Lovell and Apollo engineers recall the ingenuity and superhuman efforts that turned a space flight disaster into an extraordinary fight for survival.
20:30 - 'Tank on the Moon' (2007) (52 min)
With the declassification of the former USSR space archives, along with recollections by several of the key participants in the Lunokhod program, the true story of the Russian lunar robots, which remained secret for more than two decades after the 1970s, can finally be told!
21:30. 'Artemis: First Launch' (2022) (17 min)
This is an inside look at NASA's groundbreaking Artemis Program, the spacecraft and the people who will bring humanity one step closer to the moon, Mars and beyond.

Where is CSEO Discovery Alpha?
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