Robert Zubrin (; born April 9, 1952
) is an American
aerospace engineer
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is s ...
, author, and advocate for
human exploration of Mars. He and his colleague at
Martin Marietta
The Martin Marietta Corporation was an American company founded in 1961 through the merger of Glenn L. Martin Company and American-Marietta Corporation. In 1995, it merged with Lockheed Corporation to form Lockheed Martin.
History
Martin Ma ...
, David Baker, were the driving force behind
Mars Direct
Mars Direct is a proposal for a human mission to Mars which purports to be both cost-effective and possible with current technology. It was originally detailed in a research paper by Martin Marietta engineers Robert Zubrin and David Baker in 1990 ...
, 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
Rocket propellant is the reaction mass of a rocket. This reaction mass is ejected at the highest achievable velocity from a rocket engine to produce thrust. The energy required can either come from the propellants themselves, as with a chemical ...
for the surface stay and return journey. A modified version of the plan was subsequently adopted by
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA ) is an independent agency of the US federal government responsible for the civil space program, aeronautics research, and space research.
NASA was established in 1958, succeedi ...
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.
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
The Mars Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human Mars exploration and colonization, founded by Robert Zubrin in 1998. It is based on Zubrin's Mars Direct plan, which aims to make human mission to Mars as lightweight and ...
in 1998. This is an international organization advocating a
human mission to Mars
The idea of sending humans to Mars has been the subject of aerospace engineering and scientific studies since the late 1940s as part of the broader exploration of Mars. Some have also considered exploring the Martian moons of Phobos and Deim ...
as a goal, by private funding if possible.
Early life and education
Zubrin was born in New York City's
Brooklyn
Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York (state), New York. Kings County is the most populous Administrative divisions of New York (state)#County, county in the State of New York, ...
borough
on April 9, 1952. His father was descended from Russian
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
immigrants.
Qualifications and professional career
Zubrin was awarded his first patent at age 20 in 1972 for
Three Player Chess.
Zubrin holds a B.A. in
Mathematics from the
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester (U of R, UR, or U of Rochester) is a private university, private research university in Rochester, New York. The university grants Undergraduate education, undergraduate and graduate degrees, including Doctorate, do ...
(1974); he was a science teacher for 7 years before becoming an engineer.
He earned a M.S. in
Nuclear Engineering
Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of breaking down atomic nuclei (fission) or of combining atomic nuclei ( fusion), or with the application of other sub-atomic processes based on the principles of nu ...
(1984), a M.S. in
Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of air flight–capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. The British Royal Aeronautical Society identif ...
and
Astronautics
Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the theory and practice of travel beyond Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science its overarching field.
The term ''astronautics'' (originally ''astrona ...
(1986), and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering (1992) — all from the
University of Washington
The University of Washington (UW, simply Washington, or informally U-Dub) is a public research university in Seattle, Washington.
Founded in 1861, Washington is one of the oldest universities on the West Coast; it was established in Seat ...
.
He has developed a number of concepts for
space propulsion and exploration, and is the author of over 200 technical and non-technical papers and several books. He is also President of both the
Mars Society
The Mars Society is a nonprofit organization that advocates for human Mars exploration and colonization, founded by Robert Zubrin in 1998. It is based on Zubrin's Mars Direct plan, which aims to make human mission to Mars as lightweight and ...
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).
Zubrin's inventions include the
nuclear salt-water rocket and co-inventor (with Dana Andrews) of the
magnetic sail. Zubrin is fellow at
Center for Security Policy
The Center for Security Policy (CSP) is a US far-right, anti-Muslim, Washington, D.C.-based think tank. The organization's founder and current president is Frank Gaffney Jr. who is known for promoting falsehoods about former U.S. President ...
.
During his professional career, Zubrin was a member of
Lockheed Martin's scenario development team charged with developing strategies for
space exploration
Space exploration is the use of astronomy and space technology to explore outer space. While the exploration of space is carried out mainly by astronomers with telescopes, its physical exploration though is conducted both by uncrewed rob ...
. 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". During his time at Martin Marietta, he drafted ideas for a potential
single-stage-to-orbit spacecraft, and developed the
Black Colt. However, he would eventually leave Martin Marietta to co-form
Pioneer Rocketplane
Pioneer Rocketplane was an aerospace design and development company intent on developing affordable crewed space flight. The company is most famous for advocating a horizontal takeoff, turbo-jet and rocket propelled, aerial-refueled, rocket plan ...
with
Mitchell Burnside Clapp
Mitchell Burnside Clapp is an Australian-American aerospace engineer, former test pilot, and musician. He received Bachelor of Science degrees in Physics, Aeronautics and Astronautics, and Russian, as well as a Master of Science degree in Aeronaut ...
, an aerospace engineer from the
US Air Force
The United States Air Force (USAF) is the Aerial warfare, air military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part ...
, due to a perceived lack of interest in reducing launch costs at larger aerospace firms. In his book, ''Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization'', Zubrin would write about how both large aerospace firms, and the
US Government
The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U.S. government) is the national government of the United States, a federal republic located primarily in North America, composed of 50 states, a city within a feder ...
, would fail to reduce the costs of spaceflight.
In 1998, Zubrin founded the Mars Society, and in the following years, was able to attract large amounts of public interest to potential human colonisation on Mars. The work of the Mars Society was successful enough as to encourage the US Government to not cut funding for several Mars
rover missions.
Pioneer Energy
In 2008, Zubrin founded Pioneer Energy, a research and development firm headquartered in
Lakewood, Colorado
The City of Lakewood is the home rule municipality that is the most populous municipality in Jefferson County, Colorado, United States. The city population was 155,984 at the 2020 U.S. Census making Lakewood the fifth most populous city in C ...
. The company's focus is to develop mobile
Enhanced Oil Recovery
Enhanced oil recovery (abbreviated EOR), also called tertiary recovery, is the extraction of crude oil from an oil field that cannot be extracted otherwise. EOR can extract 30% to 60% or more of a reservoir's oil, compared to 20% to 40% using ...
(EOR) systems that can enable CO2-based EOR for both small and large oil producers in the United States. The company has also developed a number of new processes for manufacturing synthetic fuels.
The ethics of terraforming
Dr. Zubrin is known as an advocate of a moderately
anthropocentric position in the ethics of
terraforming
Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to mak ...
. Discussions of the ethics of
terraforming
Terraforming or terraformation ("Earth-shaping") is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying the atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology of a planet, moon, or other body to be similar to the environment of Earth to mak ...
often make reference to a series of public debates Zubrin has held with his friend
Christopher McKay
Dr Christopher P. McKay (born 1954) is an American planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, studying planetary atmospheres, astrobiology, and terraforming. McKay majored in physics at Florida Atlantic University, where he also studied m ...
, 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 aged Robert Zubrin also appears as a background character in ''The Martian Race'' (1999) by
Gregory 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.
Zubrin was featured in a 2007
CBC News
CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.c ...
documentary special, ''The Passionate Eye'', titled "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
''Dog in the Sand'' is Frank Black's third album with backing group the Catholics. It was released in 2001 by Cooking Vinyl in Europe and What Are Records? in the United States, and was produced by Nick Vincent. The album was generally met wit ...
''. The lyrics are in the form of an
acrostic
An acrostic is a poem or other word composition in which the ''first'' letter (or syllable, or word) of each new line (or paragraph, or other recurring feature in the text) spells out a word, message or the alphabet. The term comes from the Fr ...
, spelling "Robert The Case for Mars Zubrin".
In 2010 Robert Zubrin was featured in the
Symphony of Science
The Symphony of Science is a music project created by Washington-based electronic musician John D. Boswell. The project seeks to "spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through musical remixes." Boswell uses pitch-corrected audio and video ...
video "The Case for Mars" along with
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ...
,
Brian Cox, and
Penelope Boston.
The fictional character Dr. Zachary Walzer in the 2010–2011 independent
VODO series ''
Pioneer One'' was inspired by Zubrin.
In 2016, Zubrin was one of several scientists and engineers interviewed in the
National Geographic miniseries ''
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun and the second-smallest planet in the Solar System, only being larger than Mercury. In the English language, Mars is named for the Roman god of war. Mars is a terrestrial planet with a thin atmos ...
''.
Bibliography
Books
* ''
The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must'' (1996)
* ''
Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space'' (1996), co-edited with Stanley Schmidt.
* ''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).
* ''Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization'' (1999).
* ''Proceedings of the Founding Convention of the Mars Society'' (1999), co-edited with Maggie Zubrin.
* ''Mars On Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic'' (2003).
* ''
First Landing
''First Landing'' is a 2002 science fiction novel by Robert Zubrin that tells the story of the first crewed space expedition to Mars. Zubrin is the head of the Mars Society, an organization lobbying the real world NASA to send astronauts to Mars. ...
'' (2001).
* ''On to Mars: Colonizing a New World'' (2002
Apogee Books), co-edited with
Frank Crossman
Frank Crossman is an engineer and a member of the National Research Council, where he served on the National Materials Advisory Board. Crossman spent over thirty years working at Lockheed Martin. He is also active in the Mars Society, and is the c ...
.
* ''The Holy Land'' (2003).
* ''Benedict Arnold: A Drama of the American Revolution in Five Acts'' (2005).
* ''On to Mars 2: Exploring and Settling a New World'' (2005
Apogee Books), co-edited with Frank Crossman.
* ''
Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil'' (2007).
*''How to Live on Mars'' (2008).
*''Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism'' (2011).
*''Mars Direct: Space Exploration, the Red Planet, and the Human Future'' (2013).
* ''The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility'' Prometheus Books (2019)
Articles
* 1991, Mars Direct: A Simple, Robust, and Cost Effective Architecture for the Space Exploration Initiative, ''AIAA Journal''
* 2004, Getting Space Exploration Right, ''
The New Atlantis''
* 2006, An Energy Revolution, ''
The American Enterprise
''The American Enterprise'' (''TAE'') was a public policy magazine published by the American Enterprise Institute in Washington, D.C. Its editorial stance was politically conservative, generally advocating free-market economics and a neoconser ...
''
* 2007, The Hydrogen Hoax, ''
The New Atlantis''
*
References
External links
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Zubrin, Robert
1952 births
Living people
21st-century American male writers
21st-century American non-fiction writers
21st-century American novelists
American aerospace engineers
American male non-fiction writers
American male novelists
American nuclear engineers
American people of Russian-Jewish descent
American satirists
American science fiction writers
American science writers
Analog Science Fiction and Fact people
Exploration of Mars
Lockheed Martin people
Mars One
Mars Society
Space advocates
University of Washington College of Engineering alumni