NASA establishes new office to take humanity to the Moon and Mars

NASA has established a new office called the "Moon to Mars Program Office" at its headquarters in Washington to carry out its human exploration activities on the Moon and Mars. This marks a significant step for the agency in its vision to establish a long-term, sustainable human presence on the Moon and beyond.

The newly-established office will focus on hardware development, mission integration, and risk management functions for programs critical to NASA's exploration approach that uses Artemis missions at the Moon, opening a new era of scientific discovery and preparing for human missions to the Red Planet. In addition, the new office will lead planning and analysis for long-lead developments to support human Mars missions, the agency said in a press release on Thursday.

"The Moon to Mars Program Office will help prepare NASA to carry out our bold missions to the Moon and land the first humans on Mars. The golden age of exploration is happening right now, and this new office will help ensure that NASA successfully establishes a long-term lunar presence needed to prepare for humanity's next giant leap to the Red Planet," said NASA Administrator Bill Nelson.

The newly established Moon to Mars Program Office is part of NASA's Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD), which is responsible for managing the human exploration system development for lunar orbital, lunar surface, and Mars exploration. The program office will report directly to Jim Free, the Associate Administrator of the ESDMD.

Amit Kshatriya will serve as the head of the new office while Lakiesha Hawkins will serve as the deputy.

Today, I announced the new Moon to Mars Program Office, reporting to me under Exploration Systems Development. The office will implement the schedule, budget, and architecture to build a long-term lunar presence and plan the long-lead items for human missions to Mars. (1/3) pic.twitter.com/XjHb7WnS8M

— Jim Free (@JimFree) March 30, 2023