University of Rochester (BA) University of Washington (MS, PhD)
Known for
Mars Direct Mars Society The Case for Mars Energy Victory
Spouse
Hope Zubrin
Scientific career
Fields
Aerospace engineering
Institutions
Martin Marietta Pioneer Astronautics
Robert Zubrin (/ˈzuːbrɪn/; born April 9,[1] 1952[2]) is an American aerospace engineer, author,[3] and advocate for human exploration of Mars. He is also an advocate for U.S. space superiority, writing that "in the 21st century, victory on land, sea or in the air will go to the power that controls space." and that "if we desire peace on Earth, we need to prepare for war in space."[4]
He and his colleague at Martin Marietta, David Baker, were the driving force behind Mars Direct, a proposal in a 1990 research paper intended to produce significant reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission. The key idea was to use the Martian atmosphere to produce oxygen, water, and rocket propellant for the surface stay and return journey. A modified version of the plan was subsequently adopted by NASA as their "design reference mission". He questions the delay and cost-to-benefit ratio of first establishing a base or outpost on an asteroid or another Apollo program-like return to the Moon, as neither would be able to provide all of its own oxygen, water, or energy; these resources are producible on Mars, and he expects people would be there thereafter.[5]
Disappointed with the lack of interest from government in Mars exploration and after the success of his book The Case for Mars (1996), as well as leadership experience at the National Space Society, Zubrin established the Mars Society in 1998. This is an international organization advocating a human mission to Mars as a goal, by private funding if possible.
^@robert_zubrin (April 9, 2019). "Today is my birthday. Hope gave me ..." (Tweet) – via Twitter.
^Cite error: The named reference auto was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Mckay". National Space Grant Foundation. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
^"Op-Ed by Robert Zubrin: U.S. Space Supremacy Now Critical". Space News. January 22, 2015. Retrieved December 8, 2023.
^Zubrin, Robert (April 21, 2005). "Getting Space Exploration Right". Space Daily (Press release). Archived from the original on March 15, 2012. Retrieved July 14, 2013.
RobertZubrin (/ˈzuːbrɪn/; born April 9, 1952) is an American aerospace engineer, author, and advocate for human exploration of Mars. He is also an advocate...
development of a self-sustaining colony by 2050. Some experts, like RobertZubrin, support the concept due to the prevalence of water ice in the form...
Zubrin may refer to: Zubrin, a brand name for the drug tepoxalin RobertZubrin (born 1952), American aerospace engineer and author This disambiguation...
RobertZubrin, Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization, section: Titan, pp. 163-166, Tarcher/Putnam, 1999, ISBN 978-1-58542-036-0 Robert Zubrin...
and organic compounds that might be useful for sustaining human life. RobertZubrin has suggested Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune as advantageous locations...
and colonization of Mars. It was founded by RobertZubrin in 1998 and its principles are based on Zubrin's Mars Direct philosophy, which aims to make human...
from the original on 2019-09-28. Retrieved 2019-09-27. RobertZubrin (May 18, 2019). "RobertZubrin has new propellantless space propulsion concept – Dipole...
(~1016 times higher) than the proton–proton chain.[citation needed] RobertZubrin and Dana Andrews analyzed one hypothetical version of the Bussard ramjet...
Mars are the Mars Direct and the Semi-Direct concepts, advocated by RobertZubrin, an advocate of the colonization of Mars. At the February 2017 World...
nonfiction science book by RobertZubrin, first published in 1996, and revised and updated in 2011. The book details Zubrin's Mars Direct plan to make the...
engineers RobertZubrin and David Baker in 1990, and later expanded upon in Zubrin's 1996 book The Case for Mars. It now serves as a staple of Zubrin's speaking...
2002 science fiction novel by RobertZubrin that tells the story of the first crewed space expedition to Mars. Zubrin is the head of the Mars Society...
Wayne Cassalls in coordination with RobertZubrin and numerous Mars Society volunteers. Kurt Micheels and RobertZubrin conducted a scouting expedition to...
On the pro-terraforming side of the argument, there are those like RobertZubrin, Martyn J. Fogg, Richard L. S. Taylor, and the late Carl Sagan who believe...
to the Moon". Aerospace engineer, author, and Mars Society founder RobertZubrin has voiced his distaste for the Gateway, which is part of the Artemis...
produced by PRX and The Truth, co-created by Ian Coss and Sam Jay Gold. RobertZubrin has said that his 2003 novel The Holy Land, a satire on the Middle East...
controversial astroethical matter. Proponents of terraforming, like RobertZubrin, argue that humans, being the only technologically advanced and intelligent...
Earth that could survive on Mars has already got there and vice versa. RobertZubrin used similar arguments in favour of his view that the back contamination...
airmail, in part because they could be reusable. Technologists like RobertZubrin, of Mars Society fame, think that rocket mail, or at least ultra-elite...
Peter Smith, James R. Kass, K.R. Sridhara Murthi, Esther Dyson, and RobertZubrin. Mars One was not an aerospace company and would not have manufactured...
personal space to be shared by four astronauts. Mars Society founder RobertZubrin called the Gateway "NASA's worst plan yet" in an article in the National...
SpaceX has around US$180 billion valuation. In early 2001, Elon Musk met RobertZubrin and donated US$100,000 to his Mars Society, joining its board of directors...
Archived from the original on September 5, 2012. Retrieved June 30, 2009. RobertZubrin, Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization, section: Settling...
Martin. He is also active in the Mars Society, and is the co-editor with RobertZubrin of two books of essays and articles related to exploring Mars. He holds...
about profit, and profit always marginalizes minorities". In contrast, RobertZubrin of the Mars Society responds that it is different from comparing the...
every 26 months. Mars Direct, a low-cost human mission proposed by RobertZubrin, founder of the Mars Society, would use heavy-lift Saturn V class rockets...
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