While far away, Mars is a goal within our reach. We are closer to sending
humans to Mars than at any point in NASA’s history. We will journey in
phases, leveraging our experience on the space station to step out into the
Proving Ground of cislunar space—the volume of space around the moon
featuring multiple stable staging orbits for future deep space missions. Over
the next decade, NASA and our partners will use this Proving Ground to
practice deep-space operations with decreasing reliance on the Earth, gaining
the experience and systems necessary to make pioneering space and the
journey to Mars a reality.
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