Moon as Moral Testbed: Global Ethics for a Multinational Mars Mission

Adriana C. Ocampo Uría argues that NASA’s Mars architecture is missing a binding global governance and ethics framework; Artemis-related delays and competing lunar claims reveal the need for diplomacy and shared norms. She calls for an International Space Ethics Congress (2027–2028), a Planetary Stewardship Council with binding authority, a Global Emergency Response Protocol, and an Open Science and Technology Pledge to ensure equitable access to breakthroughs and protect any potential extraterrestrial life. The Moon, she says, is the ethical proving ground for how we share resources, coordinate safety, and govern interplanetary activity, so that Mars becomes a universal heritage site rather than a single-nation frontier.