Moon or Mars? Why not both, acting NASA head Janet Petro says

WASHINGTON, DC — NASA still has the moon in its crosshairs.

The agency has been working to return astronauts to the moon via its Artemis program, which was established in late 2017 in response to a directive from then-U.S. President Donald Trump.

Establishing a sustainable human presence on and around our natural satellite will help us make the next giant leap — the one to Mars, NASA officials have long said.

Recent statements by Trump — who was just elected to his second term, and his close adviser Elon Musk have called this "stepping stone" approach into question — however.

In his inaugural address last month, for example, Trump focused on the Red Planet, saying that the United States "will pursue our manifest destiny into the stars, launching American astronauts to plant the Stars and Stripes on the planet Mars."

And Musk — the SpaceX founder and CEO whose "Department of Government Efficiency" (DOGE) is currently auditing (and slashing) the federal bureaucracy — deemed the moon "a distraction" in a December 2024 X post, saying, "we're going straight to Mars." (That was apparently a reference to SpaceX's internal plans, not those of NASA. But Musk seems to have Trump's ear on many issues, and SpaceX and NASA are key partners on the Artemis program.)

Nothing has officially changed with Artemis yet, however. Indeed, the moon is still a big part of NASA's human spaceflight plans, according to acting NASA administrator Janet Petro.

Petro spoke here on Wednesday (Feb. 12) at the 27th annual Commercial Space Conference in a "fireside chat" with Dave Cavossa, president of the Commercial Space Federation. Among other questions, Cavossa asked Petro what she would regard as a "defining success" of NASA's collaborations with commercial partners 10 to 20 years from now.

Petro cited a robust network of private space stations in low Earth orbit, as well as "boots on Mars," which she described as a "super exciting" prospect. But she also gave some love to Earth's nearest neighbor: "Many, many, many boots on the moon — that, to me, would be incredible to see."

Petro — the first woman to ever lead NASA — steered clear of politics during the 25-minute chat. She didn't discuss DOGE's plans for NASA, for example, or how the Trump administration's anti-DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) push is affecting the agency.

It's unclear how long Petro will direct the agency. Trump has nominated billionaire tech entrepreneur, philanthropist and private astronaut Jared Isaacman to lead NASA on a permanent basis. Isaacman still needs to be confirmed by the U.S. Senate, however.