Robots first.
People after proof.

Map terrain and illumination, characterize soil and dust, verify communications and survey landing hazards. A robotic campaign should measure the properties that most strongly change the design. Do not commit habitat foundations or landing corridors from a rendering. Establish a controlled site model with uncertainty bounds and the responsible owner for each assumption.

Land communication, power and mobility equipment before crew occupancy. Demonstrate deployment, fault isolation, navigation, cold-start recovery and remote maintenance. Logistics need compatible mechanical handling points and a transport plan for each package. Every landed component contributes to a mass ledger including packaging, propellant interfaces, deployment equipment and spares.

Position modules, connect services and verify mechanical, electrical, thermal and pressure interfaces. Commission atmosphere control and external heat rejection with representative loads. Demonstrate safe modes through the worst modeled environmental interruption. Regolith works must protect hardware from burial, settlement and dust contamination while remaining inspectable.

An uncrewed integrated endurance run must precede independent mission-readiness review. Entry criteria include closed transport budgets, verified life support, communications, safe-haven endurance and return capability. The first crew mission should be deliberately bounded. Expansion requires observed reliability, documented maintenance burden and a funded resupply and end-of-life strategy.