NASA Establishes Moon to Mars Program Office

Today NASA announced a new organizational structure to carry out its program of human exploration beyond low Earth orbit. Amit Kshatriya will lead the new Moon to Mars Program Office. The move responds to congressional direction in the 2022 NASA Authorization Act.

NASA’s Artemis effort to return humans to the Moon and someday go to Mars has been managed as a set of separate activities within the Exploration Systems Development Mission Directorate (ESDMD) until now.

Development of the Space Launch System rocket, Orion spacecraft and the Exploration Ground Systems to support them were under the Common Exploration Systems (CES) division. Human Landing Systems, the Gateway lunar space station, and lunar spacesuits and systems for lunar mobility were part of Artemis Campaign Development (ACD).

NASA’s congressional authorization committees wanted a more traditional management structure with a single individual responsible and accountable for executing the Moon to Mars program and ensuring Mars remains the goal. Congress supports missions to the Moon, but only as a proving ground for Mars.

The 2022 NASA Authorization Act, part of the CHIPS and Science Act (P.L. 117-167), made that point clear and directed NASA to create a Moon to Mars Program Office. Section 10811 spends four and a half pages detailing the elements of the office and the duties of the Moon to Mars Program Director.

Kshatriya now is that person. The Moon to Mars Program Office combines CES and ACD. Kshatriya was acting Deputy Associate Administrator for CES. The Deputy AA for ACD, Mark Kirasich, retired in December.

Kshatriya has bachelor’s and master’s degrees in mathematics from the California Institute of Technology and the University of Texas at Austin respectively. During his 20-year career at NASA he has worked mostly on the International Space Station program at Johnson Space Center in a variety of capacities including flight director and acting manager of the ISS Vehicle Office. He moved to NASA HQ in 2021 as assistant deputy associate administrator for CES.

Lakiesha Hawkins is the new Deputy Associate Administrator for the Moon to Mars Program. She has a bachelor’s degree in engineering from Florida A&M University and a Master of Science from the University of South Florida. After 13 years in the private sector at Jacobs Technology and Pratt & Whitney Rocketdyne, she joined NASA 12 years ago and in 2021 became deputy manager of NASA’s Human Landing System program office at Marshall Space Flight Center.

Steve Creech will be Technical Deputy, responsible for ensuring technical issues are identified and brought to resolution across all the offices and programs under the Moon to Mars Program office. He has a degree in industrial engineering from Mississippi State University and worked on the SLS program at Marshall.

NASA Administrator Bill Nelson said the new office will help the agency “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.” — Bill Nelson

The Moon to Mars Program Office is still part of ESDMD, with Jim Free as Associate Administrator.

The Coalition for Deep Space Exploration, an industry advocacy group whose members include many of the Artemis contractors, congratulated Kshatriya and said they look forward to working with him. CDSE president and CEO Allen Cutler, who until quite recently was the top Republican staffer on the Senate Appropriations subcommittee that funds NASA, said: “Establishing the leadership of the Moon to Mars Program office is a substantial step towards meeting the requirements of a sustained human exploration program. CDSE is eager to continue working with Amit in his new role.”

NASA just completed the Artemis I uncrewed test flight of SLS and Orion in December. Artemis II, a test flight with a crew, is scheduled for the end of 2024. The four-person crew for that mission — three Americans and a Canadian — will be named on Monday.

The first human landing on the Moon since the Apollo era is planned for the end of 2025, but many are skeptical that can be achieved technically or budgetarily. In terms of budget, NASA is requesting a total of $27.2 billion for FY2024, a 7.1 percent increase over FY2023, of which $8 billion is for ESDMD.