American President Barack Obama said that moon is no longer a destination for American astronauts. But recently a senior astronaut with the American space agency NASA said that the agency is planning to set a base for a future mission to Mars.

According to William Gerstenmaier, the chief of human exploration for National Aeronautics and Space Administration, journey to such a far located planet Mars is not feasible.

He said journey to Mars will take nearly 900 days. Rather William said that it will be more feasible for the agency if they utilize the moon.

Astronauts can use the large ice at the lunar poles and convert it to a reservoir of oxygen and hydrogen fuel that can be used to propel rockets towards Mars, he said.

“If propellant was available from the moon, this could dramatically lower the mass needed from the Earth for a NASA Mars mission”, Gerstenmaier said.

NASA said in a statement that they are now considering an ‘Evolvable Mars Campaign’ as there are several technical and financial challenges surrounding a Mars mission.

So far there has been no such announcement made by the space agency about a possible moon mission in the future.

A report submitted by the National Research Council stated that independent analysis of several pathways that a return to extended surface operations on the moon would make substantial contributions to a strategy ultimately aimed at landing people on Mars.

US Rep. John Culberson, a Houston Republican, said it will be logical if the agency first plans to go to the moon, to demonstrate the ability to reach and use the lunar environment, before they attempt to go further for manned spacecraft.

Gerstenmaier said they have seen and conducted several studies that look at mars mission as a logistics and resupply problem. Studies showed that resources from the moon could be extremely beneficial for Mars missions.