NASA chief Charles Bolden said sending astronauts to Mars is important for our "species to survive".
The agency released its statement alongside an announcement for plans to land humans on the red planet by 2030, according to The Daily Mail.
Bolden stressed the significance of the mission to Mars at the Humans to Mars summit in Washington.
"If this species is to survive indefinitely, we need to become a multi-planet species, we need to go to Mars, and Mars is a stepping stone to other solar systems," he said.
Bolden outlined a series of steps to successfully carry out the mission, which included capturing an asteroid and bringing it the moon's orbit by 2015, using 3D printers for onboard repairs and growing plants in space, Metro reported.
The former astronaut and Marine general revealed additional projects that are being worked on - NASA's Solar Electric Propulsion System, an Ion thrusts that uses beams of electrically-charged atoms to move in deep space, and the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, a spacecraft designed for future trips to Mars and the Moon among them.
For the asteroid "lassoing" objective, astronauts would be sent to the captured asteroid in a month-long trip to collect samples, The Daily Mail reported. The goal of the trip would be to gain a better understanding of asteroids, meteors and other space objects.
NASA's upcoming budget includes funding for the project, which involves the use of the Orion. NASA revealed a video last year detailing the trip, which uses solar power and the gravitational pull of the Moon to power the spacecraft. After the Orion connects to the asteroid capture device, the astronauts perform a spacewalk to an exposed section of the asteroid to collect and take photos of samples.
Bolden said these plans need more funding from the White House, Metro reported.
"With some increases in Nasa's budget, we're gonna be able to get to Mars in the 2030s," he said.
