"The moon is a Vacuum enviroment not much different than high Earth orbit.

Mars has an thin Carbon Dioxide atmosphere the dust blowing around is going to be a totally different problem than the Moon enviroment can simulate."

Geof wrote: The atmosphere on Mars is quite thin, roughly equal to 100,000 ft on Earth (45,000' requires pressure suit [around 2 psi]). Dust won't be blowing around unless winds are at high speed.
On calm day dust should behave very similar to the Moon. The air pressure difference the Moon and Mars would be somewhere around the difference on Earth of a ground floor and top floor of a high rise.

Chris writes: You're wrong about it all.

"Heat dissipation is going to be different."

Geof wrote: Not really.

Chris writes: Hum, yes, really. A block of ice works fine for cooling on the Moon, as in a vacuum, not so on Mars.

"Even if they are on the Moon they are too far away for us to help them so they might as well be on Mars."

Geof wrote: Days instead of months

Chris writes: Still dead in days or months.

I'm not going to bother with NASA's job definition. Business should do things at the Moon not NASA.

Addressing all who say the Moon should be used to test equipment meant for Mars... Name these pieces of equipment that can't be better tested here on Earth or in orbit or on Mars, cheaper easier and with some rationality.

Anything using ISRU is best tested here and on Mars. Spacesuit testing might marginally be useful, but costly. The regolith of the two worlds are not the same and are vastly different in weathering...suit cooling, comms and other components of the spacesuit would have to be modifed to work on the Moon (Mars has an atmospere and atmospheric propagation). What about aerocapture or aerobraking or parachute decent? Non of these are even remotely possible on the Moon and the list goes on and on. At best a hand full of components could be tested on the Moon, just so the emotions of some moonstruck folks can be satisfied...sorry...I don't think so.

--Chris Vancil