These are heady days for NASA and the space industry. The Artemis 2 crew flew around the moon, traveling farther into space than any humans previously had; NASA announced an ambitious new schedule for returning to the lunar surface and commercial partners continue to make promising strides forward. After decades of mission proposals and PowerPoint presentations, a permanent human presence will finally be established on the moon, which will rank among the greatest achievements in human history.
As we fulfil this decades-old dream, however, let’s also not abandon our long-standing national commitment to sending humans to Mars. While short-term emphasis should obviously be placed on establishing a sustainable presence on the moon, Mars must remain part of the long-term strategic trajectory guiding those investments. The moon and Mars are not competing priorities. Lunar milestones build momentum, capability and operational experience that can help shape a more sustainable path toward Mars.
Fortunately, NASA Administrator Jared Isaacman appears to agree with this approach. When asked how the moon base would help us get to Mars at the recent press conference, he indicated that one of the primary reasons we’re developing the moon base is to prepare for Mars. He posed the question, “Why build the moon base?” He concluded his answer by saying, “Number one, we want to be in an environment where we can learn the skills so that astronauts can go and plant the stars and stripes on Mars one day.
This does not mean that the moon is of lesser importance than Mars. It means that as we explore the moon, build infrastructure and conduct logistics, conduct science experiments, conduct human health studies and utilize lunar resources, we must apply these experiences (when applicable) to our mission planning for Mars. Otherwise, in 10-15 years, we may find ourselves no closer to Mars because we did not truly use the moon to help “feed forward to Mars.” That would be neither efficient nor fiscally responsible.
Taking this approach will not require large increases in the budget, either. Many of the Mars-relevant tasks will be performed anyway. It’s a matter of framing; of deliberate planning. In addition to asking how these tasks enable a sustainable human presence on the moon, astronauts and mission planners should also actively ask, “How can this enable Mars missions in the 2030s?
For example, as NASA develops Lunar Reactor -1, there will be many lessons that will be directly applicable to Mars. This includes how to set up the lunar power network and how to arrange power stations with habitats on the moon. Surface operations on the moon will also be another critical lesson that can be applied to Mars. This includes the deployment of infrastructure such as radiation shielding, landing pads, grading, and the moving of regolith. As obvious as this approach sounds, we must be deliberate to ensure that we don’t become so lunar-focused that preparation for Mars falls by the wayside.
But Mars is not simply a transportation challenge. It is a sustained human and operational systems challenge. The moon is where we exercise the integrated system: autonomous operations, concurrent task loading, degraded communications and human resilience under real mission conditions. To fully realize the value of lunar operations, we should intentionally use these missions to stress, measure, and better understand how human physical, emotional and cognitive performance change under increasing mission complexity over time. While decades in low Earth orbit have taught us a tremendous amount, the moon gives us the opportunity to stress-test human capabilities and limitations while still maintaining the margin needed to learn, adapt and refine the architecture before committing to Mars-duration missions.
Not all aspects of lunar exploration are applicable (or fully applicable) to Mars, however. Some capabilities must be developed in parallel with our lunar activities if we hope to land on Mars anytime soon. This approach was argued by Isaacman during his Senate NASA confirmation hearing in April 2025. Isaacman said, “Artemis is the current plan, but that doesn’t preclude parallel efforts to pursue the President’s inspiring and ambitious goal of sending American astronauts to Mars.”
Isaacman was absolutely correct in this statement, and missions like the Space Reactor-1 Freedom/Skyfall mission are a great initial step, but other capabilities have a long lead time to develop, such as Entry, Descent, and Landing on the Martian surface. As such, NASA should test the Hypersonic Inflatable Aerodynamic Decelerator in the Martian atmosphere in the 2020s. By doing so, we will have already proved out one of the most critical capabilities for a successful human mission to Mars, helping to prevent potentially significant delays in the future.
There are many reasons for creating a permanent human presence on the moon: scientific, economic, national security, diplomatic and inspiration. Taking care to make sure that these activities buy down the risks of human missions to Mars does not diminish any of these. By actively using our lessons on the moon in this manner, we not only advance our humans to Mars goals, but also strengthen the argument for a permanent presence on the moon.
Chris Carberry is CEO of Explore Mars, Inc. He is the author of “The Music of Space,” and “Alcohol in Space” and is co-editor of “A Future Spacefaring Society.”
Jennifer Rochlis is the President and CEO of Advancing Frontiers and the Board Chair for The Organization for Space Medicine, Engineering, and Design (OSMED).
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