NASA Refines Its Strategy for Getting Humans to Mars - Gizmodo

NASA’s upcoming Artemis Moon program is serving as a stepping stone for an eventual crewed mission to Mars.

NASA has chosen to employ a “Moon to Mars” strategy, in which the space agency, with the assistance of commercial and international partners, will acquire the technology and skills needed work on the Moon, and then use those learnings to mount a crewed mission to Mars, tentatively scheduled for the late 2030s or early 2040s.

Science objectives for Moon to Mars should touch upon planetary science, the science of the Sun, human and biological science, and basic physics, among other fields.

During the program, we should “evaluate how the interaction of exploration systems and the deep space environment affect human health, performance, and space human factors to inform future exploration-class missions,” as the Moon to Mars blueprint spells out.

For transportation and habitation, the blueprint seeks the development of “an integrated system of systems to conduct a campaign of human exploration missions to the Moon and Mars, while living and working on the lunar and Martian surface, with safe return to Earth.”.

Operational requirements to enable human missions on both the Moon and Mars include the establishment of command and control processes, operating surface mobility systems (such as space suits, tools, and vehicles), and the factoring in of communications delays.