Recurring tenets

Summary. Alongside the ten goals, the Moon to Mars Objectives set nine recurring tenets (RT-1 to RT-9): "common themes that are broadly applicable across all the objectives. They provide guidance related to how objectives should be pursued to ensure successful execution of the Moon to Mars endeavor" (ADD Rev C, p. 83). They cover partnering (international, industry), crew safety and crew time, maintainability, responsible use, interoperability, use of low Earth orbit, and commerce. ADD Rev C Section 3.5 (pp. 83–103) assesses the architecture against each, with an "Architecture Assessments" part and a "Future Considerations" part. Each tenet has its own page, linked below.

All page numbers below are ADD Rev C.

What the tenets are

• Where they come from. "In the Moon to Mars Objectives, NASA established a high-level set of recurring tenets to guide the exploration architecture" (p. 83). Earlier: "The objectives also include recurring tenets, cross-cutting themes that inform the entire exploration endeavor" (p. 16). RT is listed as an "Objective Category" in the acronym list (p. 293), but it is not one of the ten goals.
• Not ranked. "Recurring tenets have implications across all Moon to Mars Objectives. The ordering of recurring tenets does not imply prioritization" (p. 84, boxed note).
• The assessments. "As NASA develops the architecture, it periodically assesses its adherence to the recurring tenets, evaluating how the current architecture reflects these guiding principles. The assessments are not exhaustive; future revisions will continue to update, evaluate, and assess the architecture's progress and adherence to the tenets" (p. 84). They "detail existing efforts to follow these tenets and highlight additional areas for forward work as the architecture continues to evolve" (p. 71). Rev C "Updated recurring tenet assessments" (revision table, p. 4).

The nine tenets

The wording is the table on p. 83 (checked against the PDF, where each tenet has an icon).

Tenet	NASA's wording (p. 83)	Assessment	Page
RT-1 International Collaboration	"Partner with international community to achieve common goals and objectives."	pp. 84–87	RT-1
RT-2 Industry Collaboration	"Partner with U.S. industry to achieve common goals and objectives."	pp. 87–88	RT-2
RT-3 Crew Return	"Return crews safely to Earth while mitigating adverse impacts to crew health."	pp. 88–91	RT-3
RT-4 Crew Time	"Maximize crew time available for science and engineering activities within planned mission durations."	pp. 92–93	RT-4
RT-5 Maintainability and Reuse	"When practical, design systems for maintainability, reuse, and/or recycling to support the long-term sustainability of operations and increase Earth independence."	pp. 93–95	RT-5
RT-6 Responsible Use	"Conduct all activities for the exploration and use of outer space for peaceful purposes consistent with international obligations, and principles for responsible behavior in space."	pp. 95–98	RT-6
RT-7 Interoperability	"Enable interoperability and commonality (technical, operations and process standards) among systems, elements, and crews throughout the campaign."	pp. 98–100	RT-7
RT-8 Leverage Low-Earth Orbit	"Leverage infrastructure in low-Earth orbit to support Moon to Mars activities."	pp. 100–101	RT-8
RT-9 Commerce and Space Development	"Foster the expansion of the economic sphere beyond Earth orbit to support U.S. industry and innovation."	pp. 101–103	RT-9

The section headings word some tenets differently from the p. 83 table. Each tenet page quotes both where they differ.

• RT-4 differs in substance. The heading reads "Maximize crew time available for science, research, and technology development activities within planned mission duration" (p. 92), against "science and engineering activities within planned mission durations" (p. 83).
• Smaller differences: RT-3 "Return crew safely to Earth while mitigating adverse impact to crew health" (p. 88); RT-6 has no comma before "and principles" (p. 95); RT-7 "(technical, operations, and process standards)" (p. 98); RT-8 "low Earth orbit" without the hyphen (p. 100).

See open question 21. p. 16 also numbers the assessments "Section 3.4"; they are 3.5.

The assessments at a glance

Tenet	What the assessment reports	Forward work it names (examples)
RT-1	The European Service Module, Gateway partners, Japan's pressurized rover, joint studies with nine agencies, science and C&PNT cooperation	Multilateral forums for future partnerships
RT-2	Commercial partnerships in EHP, Gateway and HLS; STMD collaborations; CLPS	Commercial LEO platforms; industry-built standards and exploration services
RT-3	Human-rating standards; system capabilities and mission operations for safe return	Mars-level autonomy, survival options and health monitoring
RT-4	Low-maintenance design, automation, training, tele-robotics	How added capability affects crew time
RT-5	Common equipment, an EVA compatibility standard, self-maintenance	Robotic maintenance (called "an architecture gap"), refurbishment, recycling
RT-6	Treaty, policy and Artemis Accords basis; CLPS data such as SCALPSS	"Policy questions and framework gaps" on protecting future science and exploration
RT-7	International Deep Space Interoperability Standards, LunaNet, standard utilization interfaces	Lunar surface docking, surface robotic interfaces, common containers
RT-8	ISS heritage; transition to commercial LEO destinations	Using LEO to inform Mars human-system risks
RT-9	Commercial elements (HLS, LCRNS, GLE, xEVA, LTV, CLPS)	Clarifying NASA's role; publishing needs; buying data versus missions

Other sources on the tenets

The Moon Base sources don't mention the recurring tenets (a search of sources/moon-base/ and the Users Guide text finds none). Earlier documents in sources/ do:

• Two 2024 white papers, each about one tenet:

  • International partnerships, on RT-1: how a partner enters through NASA's pre-formulation milestones
  • Responsible exploration, on RT-6: "ethical, legal, and societal implications"

  The responsible-exploration paper says what tenets are for: "Recurring tenets are broadly applicable across objectives and serve as practical guidance for how objectives should be carried out" (Responsible Exploration, p. 4; italics NASA's).

• The 2022 and 2023 objectives documents: below.

• The 2023 and 2024 executive overviews don't discuss the tenets on their rendered pages (2023, 2024). A text search of the 2024 file finds RT-1 and RT-6, but only in the white-paper thumbnails on PDF p. 8, which the text layer carries and the page can't show.

In the 2022 and 2023 objectives documents

Where the tenets were set. The September 2022 Moon to Mars Objectives lists the nine tenets under the heading "Recurring Tenets: Common Themes Across Objectives" (Moon to Mars Objectives, p. 5). Its foreword lists them as "a new domain" in the growth "from 50 objectives to 63" (p. 3). The 2023 document says "Recurring tenets came out of the vetting process, along with rationale for the goals" (Strategy and Objectives Development, PDF p. 3). Its Appendix B gives two steps. The April 2022 gap analysis led to, among other changes, "one new overarching principle" (PDF p. 44). The summer 2022 "summer scrub" then chose to "Rename the Overarching Objectives Principals to Recurring Tenets, which were expanded from four to nine", and to put them first among the tracks: "Re-order objectives tracks: Recurring Tenets, Science, Infrastructure, Transportation and Habitation, Operations" (PDF p. 46). "Principals" is as printed. The document doesn't list the earlier principles. The rest of the story is on Objectives.

The wording. The ADD's p. 83 table matches the 2022 wording, apart from capital letters (the wiki's comparison). The 2023 Strategy and Objectives Development document reprints them with two small edits: RT-1 "Partner with the international community", and RT-8's name as "Leverage low-Earth orbit" (Strategy and Objectives Development, PDF p. 19; open question 50).

Why they exist (2023, PDF p. 18). "The Recurring Tenets (RTs) capture common themes that are broadly applicable across the objectives. The nine RTs describe aspects of strategy that are fundamental to achieving the Moon to Mars objectives. Neglecting any of the RTs in pursuit of an objective could hinder or even prevent successful execution of the Moon to Mars endeavor." The rationale, tenet by tenet, as printed:

Tenet	2023 rationale (PDF p. 18)
RT-1, RT-2	International and industry partnerships "seem similar on the surface, but nuances exist in engaging with each stakeholder group, so each merits a designated tenet. As shown by the International Space Station and other recent space exploration efforts, international and industry partnerships each bring dissimilar redundancies and a variety of solutions that increase the chances of campaign success and longevity."
RT-3	"returning crew safely and mitigating impacts to their health (RT-3) is fundamental to a successful human space exploration campaign"
RT-4	"So too is maximizing crew time for high-value activities (RT-4) and minimizing the amount of time required for maintenance and other support tasks."
RT-5	"captures the need for maintainable systems to reduce logistics, promote extensibility, and increase operational independence from Earth over time"
RT-6	"was crafted through robust discussions, particularly with international partners and the science community. It centers on preserving the lunar and Martian environments and protecting science value at high-interest sites. RT-6 also includes considerations associated with international commitments, norms of behavior, and national regulations."
RT-7	"reflects discussions with numerous international and industry partners and recognizes the need for standards on technical requirements, design processes, operations, and other aspects of mission planning and execution, as early in the planning process as possible". "Technology destined for the Moon or Mars will need to integrate, no matter the provider, and perhaps in ways the campaigns don't initially foresee."
RT-8	"acknowledges the value of utilizing and enhancing commercial low-Earth orbit infrastructure in the strategy, where appropriate"
RT-9	"emphasizes the importance of supporting industry efforts to both develop innovative solutions to campaign needs and to lay the groundwork for expanding the capabilities demonstrated by and developed for Moon to Mars activities. This recurring tenet fosters a sustainable cislunar economy. It also captures potential benefits through spinoff technologies and other downstream impacts on Earth."

The paragraph on RT-5 to RT-7 opens: "Other recurring tenets reflect the need for sustainability and interoperability, which surfaced as common themes in stakeholder workshops and written comments. Sustainability and interoperability are underlying assumptions in the planned architecture development, but these public inputs highlight the need to communicate this intent within the framework of the objectives" (PDF p. 18).

What changed by Rev C (the wiki's comparison). The wording is unchanged from 2022. The 2023 document gives a reason for each tenet; Rev C instead assesses how the architecture follows each one (Section 3.5, above). Rev C adds the note that "The ordering of recurring tenets does not imply prioritization" (p. 84), which the 2022 and 2023 documents don't have.

Related pages

Objectives: the ten goals · Architecture definition process · Why Moon to Mars · NASA's Strategy and Objectives web page · ADD Rev C source page

Sources

ADD Rev C, pp. 4, 16, 71, 83–103, 293 · Moon to Mars Objectives (2022), pp. 3, 5 · Strategy and Objectives Development (2023), PDF pp. 3, 18–19, 44, 46