Michael Jackson used the Moon and its symbology often in his life, from his trademark "moonwalk" dance move to the official seal of his beloved Neverland Ranch. "Moonwalk" was also the title of his best-selling 1988 autobiography, while "Moonwalker" was the title of a popular compilation of his greatest music video performances. He also recorded a song, "Scared Of The Moon," which has not been released commercially as of this date. Mr. Jackson claimed that he had once witnessed a UFO during a plane flight. His interest in outer space, extraterrestrials, and his plan to someday actually perform the "moonwalk" dance move on the Moon were detailed in Michael C. Luckman's "Alien Rock: The Rock 'n' Roll Extraterrestrial Connection," published by Pocket Books and VH1, which devoted an entire chapter to Mr. Jackson. Crater Michael Joseph Jackson is part of the Posidonius crater group, named for Posidonius of Apameia, a Greek Stoic philosopher, politician, astronomer, geographer, historian and teacher native to Apamea, Syria. Michael Joseph Jackson is the largest of the so-called "satellite craters" in the group, which numbers twelve in total, ranging in size from two to fifteen kilometers in diameter.
Under the naming system of Félix Chemla Lamèch, Posidonius J was once also known as Héllène. The designation to honor Michael Jackson becomes effective immediately. The official designation of a Lunar crater is a singular honor bestowed upon only a select few luminaries. Among those receiving this rare tribute over the past century are Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Columbus, Sir Isaac Newton, Julius Caesar and Jules Verne. UPDATE: In response to numerous inquiries, it should be noted that craters Michael Jackson, Posidonius and the other larger craters in the Posidonius group may generally be viewed from Earth using a typical home telescope under standard observational conditions. Luna Society International is the world's largest and most prominent group advocating privatized exploration, settlement and development of Earth's Moon. The centerpiece of the Society's effort is a ten-year, US$3.8-million program to return humans to the Moon and establish permanent bases there. The Society has also developed the most successful commercially-available lunar photomap software ever released to the public, the Full Moon Atlas (http://www.fullmoonatlas.com), and successfully advocated the removal of a crater named for an accused Nazi war criminal, Dr. Hans Eppinger, Jr., by the International Astronomical Union. The Society was the prime mover behind the proposal to designate a group of Lunar craters as a memorial to the seven crew members who perished in the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia (STS-107) tragedy. (See http://www.lunasociety.org/news/columbia_region.shtml)
The Society's main operations hubs are in Hong Kong and on the Isle of Man (U.K.). It maintains a satellite office in Manhattan for business operations in the Americas. # # # INFORMATION SUMMARY:
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