(Web Desk) - NASA will put an entire 'village' on the moon by 2035, according to the US space agency's boss.
Sean Duffy, NASA administrator, has revealed plans to build a sustainable and permanent outpost on the lunar surface within the next decade.
Mr Duffy appeared on a panel at the International Aeronautical Congress (IAC) in Sydney alongside the heads of other international space agencies.
This year, the theme of the IAC conference was 'Sustainable Space: Resilient Earth', which Mr Duffy took to mean how NASA could sustain life in space.
While the heads of the European, Canadian, and Japanese space agencies talked up how their satellites were helping climate research, NASA focused exclusively on space exploration.
In addition to revealing his plans for the moon, Mr Duffy also made bold claims about the US's ambitions for Mars.
Asked what success looks like for NASA in a decade, Mr Duffy said that the agency would have 'made leaps and bounds on our mission to get to Mars.'
He also predicted that the US would be 'on the cusp of putting human boots on Mars.'
However, NASA's more immediate goal is to put humans back on the moon for the first time since the Apollo missions concluded in 1972.
During the Artemis II mission next February, astronauts will test the Space Launch System rocket and Orion spacecraft that will eventually carry humans to the moon.
Over 10 days, the crew will travel 5,700 miles (9,200 km) past the moon, testing the onboard systems and gathering data on their bodies' reactions, before returning to Earth.
But the big test for NASA will come in mid-2027 with the launch of Artemis III, which plans to land two astronauts at a site near the moon's south pole.
Unlike the Apollo missions, which spent up to 22 hours on the lunar surface, Artemis III will require astronauts to live on the moon for around seven days.
The data they collect on the geology and conditions around the South Pole will all be used to prepare for the ultimate goal of constructing a permanent base on the moon.
Although the technical details are still unclear, what that lunar base might look like is starting to take shape.
In August, Mr Duffy launched a directive, calling for the US to become the first nation to put a nuclear reactor on the moon.
Following that, NASA has now issued a Request For Information (RFI), asking companies to register their interest in building the reactor.
Dubbed the Fission Surface Power System, NASA says this reactor will need to weigh less than 15 tonnes and be capable of producing 100kWe of power.
That is enough energy to power a lunar base through the 14-day lunar nights, during which solar panels will be ineffective.