The moon is about 238,000 miles from Earth, while Mars is on average about 140 million miles away. Advertisement First, that would require a base for operations on the moon.

After spending five years in semi-stealth mode, the Open Lunar Foundation is talking about its plan to create a settlement on the moon at a cost in the range of $5 billion.

SpaceX’s timescale for a Moon base is less clear. While Musk has grand plans to build a city on Mars by 2050, and he’s expressed interest in building a base on the Moon, he’s quieter on when ...