NASA is leading our nation and our world on a journey to Mars. Like the
Apollo Program, we embark on this journey for all humanity. Unlike Apollo,
we will be going to stay. This is a historic pioneering endeavor—a journey
made possible by a sustained effort of science and exploration missions
beyond low Earth orbit with successively more capable technologies and
partnerships.
This pioneering endeavor carries out the direction given to us in the 2010 NASA Authorization Act and in the U.S. National Space Policy. It engages all four NASA Mission Directorates and all NASA Centers and Laboratories. It enlists the best of academia and industry across the nation and builds on our existing international partnerships while embracing new ones. And like pioneering efforts before it, the journey to Mars will foster and attract new commercial enterprises.
Why Mars?