NASA’s top official in Russia proposed Tuesday that the U.S. and Russian space agencies join forces to send a manned mission to Mars, RIA-Novosti reported.

The Federal Space Agency currently plans to send a mission to Mars on its own by 2030.

NASA official Mark Bowman told an aerospace conference in Moscow that the U.S. and Russian space agencies should lead the project and allow other countries to join.

But to make the joint manned mission to Mars feasible, Russia and the United States need to complete the international space station and send a manned mission to the Moon in order to collect the needed scientific and technical data on working together, Bowman said. Last month, the Federal Space Agency completed a 105-day test in which a group of volunteers were isolated in a mock Mars trip.