MOON-MARS ANALOGUE BASE
- where advocates can develop approaches to space development -

There are a number of analogue bases, why is there a need for a new one?

LUNAR FOCUSED
Most of the other analogue bases are exclusively Mars oriented. This is a problem since the earliest destination that a permanent base will be located will most likely be the Moon. Both NASA and even SpaceX have indicated that they plan on establishing a permanent lunar base prior to going to Mars.

Secondly, the local resources of the Moon are quite different than Mars. For this reason, a Moon-Mars Analogue Base (MMAB) will take into account the lunar resources in a way that a Mars-only analogue base probably won't.

DEVELOPMENT AND SETTLEMENT ORIENTED
The other analogue bases are very much exploration-oriented. The focus of these web pages is that we can become largely mass independent of the Earth relatively early on using local resources and robotics. These pages also describe a path to settlement that would occur fairly soon after an initial habitat is established. For this reason, the MMAB is highly focused upon sustainable development and the processes involved with establishing humanity's first, off-Earth settlement.

PROXIMITY TO BUILDING MATERIALS AND SUPPORTERS
The other analogue bases tend to be very remote. This is great if one is exploration-oriented with a focus on the crew leaving the hab and conducting EVAs to do geology and searching for evidence of life. But, if the focus is on increasing independence from Earth by using local resources then this is something that is mostly done indoors. For this reason, being near a Home Depot and local supporters helps to be able to develop the analogue base more rapidly.