Mars via the Moon

As momentum builds for a return trip to the Moon, this book explains how a new lunar mission can build a pathway that will lead us to Mars. It explains how the space community must develop a consensus on the path forward, namely create a framework for setting up international and commercial partnerships to expand the stakeholder base. A return to the Moon will act as a catalyst for space enterprise with Mars as the next destination. Seedhouse argues that the Moon is the next logical step in advancing planetary technology to enable Mars settlement. For example, the tools for construction with regolith and extraction of oxygen from resources on the Moon are more strategically applicable when performed on the Moon than on asteroids. This book explains how a Moon-Mars alliance can be created to develop lunar industrial bases and how these will make a Mars mission possible. The author advocates a multi-participatory "agile" strategy that utilizes fast-track approach to launching and operating spacecraft because the traditional waterfall strategy is risk averse, slow, expensive and not adaptable. An agile approach uses rapid iterations, has a tolerance for higher risk, focuses on increasing capabilities, has a risk profile that lowers over time, and is adaptable to unpredictable technological and fundraising climates. The trip to Mars is a tough sell, but taking action on the small steps to the Moon now will lead to the giant steps and leaps. Indeed, thinking of space projects from an investor's perspective will enable further development of the Moon. To that end, this book explains the goals of maturing and utilizing existing Earth-based lunar analogs for the development and testing of technologies that will lead to the creation of a 3 to 6 person habitat on the lunar surface. The future possibilities are enticing and only several leaps away.