- Robert Zubrin
Robert Zubrin (born
19 April 1952 ) is an Americanaerospace engineer andauthor , best known for hisadvocacy of manned Mars exploration. He was the driving force behindMars Direct —a proposal intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission. The key idea was to use the Martian atmosphere to produceoxygen ,water , androcket propellant for the surface stay and return journey. A modified version of the plan was subsequently adopted byNASA as their "design reference mission".Disappointed with the lack of interest from government in
Mars exploration , and after the success of his book "The Case for Mars " as well as leadership experience at theNational Space Society , Zubrin formed theMars Society in1998 . This is an international organization advocating a manned Mars mission as a goal, by private funding if possible.Zubrin lives in Lakewood, Colorado, and has a daughter named Rachel.
Qualifications and professional experience
Zubrin holds a B.A. in
Mathematics from theUniversity of Rochester (1974 ), and a masters degree inAeronautics andAstronautics , a masters degree inNuclear Engineering , and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering — all from theUniversity of Washington [ [http://www.quest.nasa.gov/projects/spacewardbound/mdrs/bios/zubrin.html] Dr. Zubrin's bio from NASA.GOV] . He has developed a number of concepts forspace propulsion and exploration, and is the author of over 200 technical and non-technical papers and five books. He was a member ofLockheed Martin 's scenario development team charged with developing strategies forspace exploration . He was also "a senior engineer with the Martin Marietta Astronautics company, working as one of its leaders in development of advanced concepts for interplanetary missions" (The Case for Mars 1996). He is also President of both the Mars Society and Pioneer Astronautics, a private company that does research and development on innovative aerospace technologies. Zubrin is the co-inventor on a U.S. design patent and a U.S. utility patent on a hybrid rocket/airplane, and on a U.S. utility patent on an oxygen supply system (see links below). He was awarded his first patent at age 20 in 1972 for Three Player Chess. His inventions also include thenuclear salt-water rocket .Books
* "" (1996), with Richard Wagner. This outlines the Mars Direct plan along with speculation about the economic, social and technical viability of future
Mars colonization .
* "" (1999). This ranges from the current status quo and innovative startups of the aerospace industry, through exploration and colonization of Mars, to a more futuristic look at humanity's possible colonization of thesolar system and the feasibility ofinterstellar travel with known physics.
* "" (2003). Zubrin recounts the origins and progress of the Mars Society's Mars Analog Research Station project, including a variety of perils, both mundane and adventurous, that were overcome in establishing the first analog Mars habitat on Devon Island in the high Arctic. He offers highlights of what has been learned so far through that effort.
* "First Landing " (2001), a fictional tale about a near-future Mars flight using the Mars Direct plan.
* "The Holy Land" (2003). This is an "SFsatire on the Middle East crisis and theWar on Terrorism , and concerns what happens when the liberal Western Galactic Empire relocates the oppressed Minervansect to their ancient homeland ofKennewick, Washington , in the midst of a U.S. ruled byChristian fundamentalist fanatic s." [Email from Robert Zubrin to Tim McMahon dated 9-18-2003 requesting book review]
* "" (2005). This is an effort to humanize and show the multiple dimensions ofBenedict Arnold , and to contrast the democratic values embodied in the spirit of the Revolution with the socially bankrupt classism embodied in the British subjects who won Arnold to their side.
* "" (2007). An expansion on his recent articles criticizing both reliance onoil and the potential for hydrogen energy, while highlighting the benefits of switching more towardmethanol andethanol . It carries an endorsement from former CIA director James Woolsey.Books edited or co-authored
Zubrin has also edited or co-edited the following books, most of which include contributions he wrote:
* "" (1996), co-edited with Stanley Schmidt. This is a collection of fifteen selected non-fiction entries that had been published in Analog magazine over the years; it includes five articles authored or co-authored by Zubrin, including "The Hypersonic Skyhook", "Mars Direct: A Proposal for the Rapid Exploration and Colonization of the Red Planet" (co-authored with David A. Baker), "Colonizing the Outer Solar System", "Terraforming Mars" (co-authored withChristopher McKay ), and "The Magnetic Sail". Notable additional contributors includeRobert L. Forward and the godfather of terraforming,Martyn J. Fogg , each of whom contributed two articles.
* "From Imagination to Reality: Mars Exploration Studies of the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society : Precursors and Early Piloted Exploration Missions" (1997).
* "From Imagination to Reality: Mars Exploration Studies of the Journal of the British Interplanetary Society : Base Building, Colonization and Terraformation" (1997).
* "Proceedings of the Founding Convention of the Mars Society" (1999), co-edited with Maggie Zubrin. This contains articles corresponding to talks presented at the founding convention of the Mars Society in Boulder, Colorado in August 1998; it includes contributions from Zubrin,Buzz Aldrin , Martyn Fogg, and many others.
* "" (2002Apogee Books ), co-edited withFrank Crossman . This contains articles corresponding to talks presented at the annual conventions of the Mars Society in Boulder in 1999, inToronto ,Ontario ,Canada in 2000, and atStanford University ,Palo Alto ,California in 2001.
* "" (2005Apogee Books ), co-edited with Frank Crossman. This contains over 130 articles corresponding to talks presented at the annual conventions of the Mars Society in Boulder in 2002, inEugene, Oregon in 2003, and inChicago ,Illinois in 2004.The ethics of terraforming
Dr. Zubrin is noted as an advocate of a moderately anthropocentric position in the
ethics of terraforming . Discussions of the ethics ofterraforming often make reference to a series of public debates Zubrin has held with his friendChristopher McKay , who advocates a moderately biocentric position on the ethics of terraforming. For example, a written account of some of these debates is available in "On to Mars: Colonizing a New World", as a joint article, "Do Indigenous Martian Bacteria have Precedence over Human Exploration?" (pp. 177-182)Cultural references
An aging Robert Zubrin also appears as a background character in "
The Martian Race " (1999) byGregory Benford , a science fiction novel depicting early human explorers on Mars in the very near future. Benford, who is also an astrophysicist, is a longtime member of both the board of directors and the steering committee of the Mars Society.Robert Zubrin was also recently featured in a documentary by CBC Television documentary special The Passionate Eye dubbed "The Mars Underground". [ [http://www.cbc.ca/passionateeyesunday/feature_230308.html] The Passionate Eye Sunday: "The Mars Underground"]
The songwriter and musician
Frank Black (alias Black Francis of the Pixies) penned an homage to Zubrin, "Robert Onion", on the album "Dog in the Sand ". The lyrics form an acrostic spelling "Robert The Case For Mars Zubrin". [ [http://www.frankblack.net/songs/Default.asp?menu=album&mode=release-song-details&releaseID=701&songID=81] Lyrics to "Robert Onion" on FrankBlack.net]References
External links
* [http://www.marssociety.org/ The Mars Society]
* [http://www.pioneerastro.com/ Pioneer Astronautics]
*isfdb name|name=Robert Zubrin|id=Robert_Zubrin
* [http://www.transhumanist.com/volume4/space.htm "The Political Economy of Very Large Space Projects"]
* [http://www.taemag.com/issues/articleid.18976/article_detail.asp An Energy Revolution] article by Robert Zubrin in "The American Enterprise"
* [http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/8/zubrin.htm Getting Space Exploration Right] article by Robert Zubrin in "The New Atlantis"
* [http://www.boheme-magazine.net/php/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=721 Review of Zubrin's book "Benedict Arnold"]
* [http://www.thenewatlantis.com/archive/15/zubrin.htm The Hydrogen Hoax] article by Robert Zubrin in The New AtlantisPatents
*, "Reusable rocket airplane"
*, "Reusable rocket-propelled high altitude airplane and method and apparatus for mid-air oxidizer transfer to said airplane"
*, "Nitrous oxide based oxygen supply system"
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