College students are now doing the job NASA used to do.

CBS News in Houston reported.

College Students Create $550 Billion Plan To Colonize Moon

A team of Purdue University students has created a $550 billion plan to colonize the moon as part of a senior design project.

The 1,100-page report outlines plans for a project that the students call Project Artemis. The proposed moon colony would be the first step toward the eventual colonization of Mars.

“I believe when we go to Mars it will be a one-way (mission) to colonize,” Professor James Longuski told The Lafayette Journal & Courier. “Whatever country ends up doing that … whatever their culture value, their language, their beliefs are, will be represented by people on Mars. One question I’d like to ask is: Do we want to be a part of that?”

The moon colony would have three separate outposts where people would live for about four years. The proposed visit would begin in 2024.

Longuski says the moon outpost would help scientists learn more about the requirements for a one-way trip to Mars, which would be challenged by radiation and low gravity.

“We can’t solve them … but we can try to address them and say, ‘Let’s try them on the moon,’” Longuski told the Lafayette Journal & Courier. “The moon is a test bed for Mars.”