Customer Reviews

Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization

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Although less focused than his excellent "The Case for Mars", "Entering Space" is an excellent book. I say less focused because in this work, Zubrin is considering a number of points for colonization (the Moon, Mars, asteroids, other solar systems), and a much broader time horizon. Thus, as one might expect, his "plans" are less thorough than the one outlined in his previous work. That said, they are equally sound at their core, and are rigorously supported through the use of easy to understand physics, chemistry, and even a little biology.

Most importantly, though, "Entering Space" reiterates Zubrin's core argument: that it is an human imperative to explore, and that the failure to do so can only negatively affect our species. Ultimately, he's trying to get people excited about space exploration, to get them thinking about the enormous benefits, rather than the cost, and possible risk.

This is a wonderful, inspiring work that should be read by anyone who's ever dreamed of treading on another planet; and perhaps more so by those who haven't. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: I've been a big fan of space exploration since childhood, so I'm already in the ranks of the converted. I got turned onto Zubrin through his previous book "The Case for Mars" which is one of the most important books on space exploration done in the last twenty years. So I came to this book with a high set of expectations.

Where the Mars book was very specific, this book deals with the big picture. This works well when Zubrin goes into detail, but things fall apart when he is too theoretical. For example he gives a great survey on various potential methods for interstellar travel - but tends to get lost on more subjective topics like "if the aliens are out there".

At heart Zubrin is an engineer, and this is where he shines. Even when he is taking apart previous concepts like L5 space colonies or Dyson spheres he is doing it with care and love. He does get a bit technical, and as I don't have a professional understanding of physics I did have to wonder at points if he was 100% on the level or not. Zubrin also tends to be a bit lost when he is dealing with non-tech topics like economics or politics, but you can excuse this because he is a non-apologetic advocate of his cause.

If you are already into the subject matter this book is a must have addition for your personal library. However this book may be a bit much if you are new to the topic or get turned off by seeing scientific equations. But if you love the stuff like me, then you gotta have it! Now that it's in paperback you can also get a copy or two for your other geek friends.

Two detractionist notions have been posed since the dawn of spaceflight as to why travel to other planets, and indeed, the great stars that lay beyond--were the stuff of science fiction. A)That such ideas were either impossible or impractical and B)That there is no real reason to go into space when we have problems here on earth.

Robert Zubrin simultaneously destroys both excuses in Entering Space.

In a literary style that is both eloquent yet simple, straight hard science yet common sense, Robert Zubrin lays out an explanation for why the atrophied space program is the way it is, and from there goes on to paint a practical and awe inspiring vision of what humanity could be, and why we should.

Pages are filled with highly detailed tables, diagrams, and equations...yet what he writes is put so easy-to-understand, that you can skip over them entirely. The plan for a space faring civilization is laid out in three steps(Type 1: Planetary, Type 2: Interplanetary, and Type 3: Interstellar). And it cannot be overstated that this is perhaps the most perfect book ever written on the subject, and anyone from astronomers to scientists, to car mechanics will all understand and be inspired by Entering Space.

It can be said that Robert Zubrin is no less than a modern day Wherner Von Braun...although I wouldn't want to give undo credit to Von braun :-)

Robert Zubrin is obviously dissatisfied with the state of affairs with NASA. He complains about the lack of funding for certain programs and the lack of direction from the top brass. He makes his point but he should have cut it short.

The author seems to overlook potential pitfalls in his ideas. On using nuclear fusion for propulsion, Zubrin states that exhaust speed could reach 5 percent lightspeed, therefore Alpha Centauri could be reached in 86 years. This assumes that extra time for acceleration is negligible. For acceleration time to be negligible, the power involved would be well beyond what current research in fusion power suggests is reasonable. This oversight makes be doubt the feasibility of his much wilder proposals.

I appreciate technical details but Zubrin uses a pedantic style of writing more suitable for a textbook than a leisurely read. Zubrin's previous work, The Case for Mars, was never so tedious.

However, Zubrin does a good job on explaining many principles and concepts that would be of great interest to the space enthusiast--mainly on how to best exploit the solar system's resources while achieving inspirational goals for humanity. He also gives a concise overview of the debate on extraterrestrial intelligence an their detection.

I do recommend this book for space enthusiasts, but they should take it with a grain of salt.

Zubrin writes well, and the technology parts are well described and a good read. However, the overall book is quite negative towards anything that is not Mars related, or in the distant future.

Section 1 is mainly an exercise in bashing NASA and the large space contractors. Perhaps some of this is justified, but it comes across as sour grapes. Zubrin then takes aim at O'Niell's High Frontier ideas. However, he is factually incorrect in much of what he says, and loses his credibility at this point.

Section 2 is mainly about Mars. Zubrin is excellent on the technical aspects of Mars Direct. However, when he moves on to Mars colonisation, most of his ideas are based on parallels with the colonisation of North America. Here Zubrin is out of his depth, as the engineering is left behind and he enters into sociology and politics.

Section 3 is far future stuff, and much of the engineering discussion is useful. There are some ideas which are "interesting". For example, because it is theoretically possible for bacteria to travel in space, Zubrin assumes that is what happened. He then goes on to show that the reason that Earth has not been colonised by higher beings is that advanced civilisations self destruct after a while, despite these civilisations spanning many thousands of light years.

Overall, good on the engineering, and some interesting stories about how NASA can't make anything work. However, for most of the book, Zubrin is either out of his depth, or trying to discredit ideas that might be competitors to Mars Direct. It's worth reading, but keep an air of scepticism.

I have only read the first seven chapters of this book so far, but I feel compelled to point out some errors of information. Zubrin attacks any idea that doesn't go to Mars directly without proper research. A few hours of web searching have shown that his pessimistic numbers about solar power and lunar agriculture are not up to par. Zubrin is a rocket engineer, and so he thinks only in terms of rockets. So far in my reading I haven't seen anything about light sails or his own magnetic sail idea (for an interesting breakthrough on magsails, run a web search for M2P2). Zubrin really, really wants to go to Mars right now, and so he tries to discredit any colonization ideas that don't accomplish that objective. Personally, I don't know why we would go to all of the trouble to escape one gravity well only to go and crawl down another one.

On the good side, the initial chapters have educated me on the reasons why space travel is so expensive, and I am looking forward to the chapters about colonizing the outer solar system. The book is very well written, with a comfortable level of technical detail, and even its negative aspects have caused me to learn much more than I expected to get out of this book when I purchased it. Absolutely worth the money, but I can only give it four stars becasue of Zubrin's unreasonable treatment of other people's ideas.

Some of Zubrin's ideas are rather wacky (like the prospect of humans somehow firing up a brown dwarf into a full-fledged star), but for the most part, this book is thought provoking and raises numerous good reasons for mankind to launch itself into space. His argument that we will stagnate if we remain solely on earth is quite convincing, as is his theorizing that our galaxy teems with other civilizations. For the most part, you can skip Zubrin's equations and tables and still enjoy the book.

What really shines through is his passion about humanity's potential. We could do so much, he argues, if we could just get beyond the petty fighting that bogs us down on earth. After reading this book, I'm absolutely convinced that Zubrin is on the right track. He may be an engineer, but his real strength is the ability to transmit clearly and simply the reasons why we can't shut the door to the universe. I haven't read a better book about space exploration since Carl Sagan's Cosmos and Pale Blue Dot.

Zubrin knows what he is talking about. This book was great! Zubrin leads us from the early space program, through the technology we could build today -- but haven't -- and into the far, far future.

The first 1/3 of the book covers the current state of affairs in space exploration and what we could have done by now, but didn't. This section of the book will make you wish for election day, so you can toss those bums in DC out the airlock.

In the second section (my personal favorite of the three), Zubrin explains how we can explore and exploit the solar system, with great emphasis on the technology thereof.

Finally, Zubrin takes us to the stars, and engages in some really bizzare -- but cool! -- speculation into what technology our distant descendants might use to build new worlds.

Great book, great science. 5 stars!

It was probably a mistake to buy this book. As a student of engineering the last thing I needed was a completely enthralling book to keep me from my studies. This book will make you hate the government, question the nature of intelligent life, and love Robert Zubrin. If you have a semi-formal background in math, physics, and/or chemistry the book is an even more enlightening journey into the pitfalls and the promise of the exploration and colonization of the moon, Mars, our own solar system and eventually the stars. This book will make you a believer in the possibilities of mankind and completely frustrated at the current progress being made to achieve those possibilities. I agree, a few members of congress should read this...hopefully spurring more support for space exploration and the development of supporting technologies, like nuclear fusion. Get this book.

With his back of the envelope calculations and forceful assertions, Robert Zubrin convincingly puts forth ideas that could potentially set humans on a journey to exploit the vast resources of space for the purpose of proliferating the species. His ideas are not for some advanced civilization far off in the future, but for us, in the 21st century.

Zubrin offers strong criticism and mindful praise to the aerospace industry and government agencies for their efforts to advance space exploration. A common sense approach to gaining cheap access to space and pioneering a strong presence on extraterrestrial outposts is presented throughout.

His premise for venturing into the cold, dark, seemingly lifeless void of space, is mostly based on the idea that a civilization that adopts isolationinism and squelches its desire to expand and explore the unknown, simply cannot survive. His ideas expand on a theory that attempts to classify civilizations based on their level of technological advancement. As it goes, a Type I civilization is one that gains full mastery of it's planet's resources and can traverse the distances of the surface unchallenged. A Type II civilization has developed the technology to travel and establish a presence throughout it's solar system. A Type III civilization, of course, would have mastered interstellar travel and the ability to flourish outside of it's host solar system. Zubrin claims that we have evolved into a durable species that has achieved Type I status, that we are on the verge of becoming Type II, and most importantly that we have the promise of achieving Type III status. The capabilities of our current launch sytems are considered to be antiquated by historical and political factors, and Zubrin makes no bones about those to blame. He is quick to point his finger at major corporations, such as his previous employer Lockheed Martin, and the current NASA administrators, as the nemesis of cheap access to space. Zubrin suggests solutions that include some of his own designs, and a lengthy discussion of what it will take to make a profit on orbit, which is what he views as the critical step to becoming a spacefaring civilization. He also suggests that we can all do something to contribute to the cause, beginning by joining his Mars Society.

Dr. Zubrin uses some simple astrodynamics calculations and chemistry concepts to explore the utilization of the raw materials already existing in outer space. The Moon has a modest amount of He3 that could potentially be mined for use in high-performance fusion rockets. Recent evidence suggests that the Moon may also contain useful amounts of water for Moon-basing, and certainly the far side of the Moon is a strategically unique position for conducting radio astronomy. The water, carbon, nitrogen, oxygen, and hydrogen available on Mars could be used to implement the Mars Direct plan laid out by Zubrin in his previous book, "The Case for Mars". The plan here is to "travel light and live off the land". The fact that over two-thirds of all species that have ever lived on Earth have been wiped out by asteroids fuels an interesting discussion on the dangers of Earth-crossing asteroids, and the potential benefits of human asteroid exploration. Zubrin adopts a scaled down Mars Direct plan for the lesser planets he calls Gaiashield. The outer solar system could also potentially yield valuable resources. Saturn's moon Titan has an abundance of all of the elements necessary to support life, and Zubrin further discusses colonizing the Jovian sytem, moving "iceteroids", and using Kuiper Belt Objects (KBO's) as stepping stones to nearby stars.

Armed with data from a small army of robotic spacecraft, the work of many scientists, and his own careful investigations, Dr. Zubrin shows that space is anything but lifeless and uninhabitable. In fact, as he points out, the Universe is a haven for and most probably teaming with life, and that the resources that we need to conquer this final frontier are already there, waiting for us to utilize. Scientists have shown that our own solar system may have once supported life beyond Earth, and upon further inspection, we may find life indiginous to it's wildly diverse environments. Dr. Zubrin also points out that we may be able to detect intelligent life, not only by direct transmission, but also by the signature of advanced propulsion systems.

Entering Space is very well organized, includes more detailed "focus" sections and summaries on certain topics, and also contains an invaluable reference section for each chapter for further study.

Dr. Zubrin's work offers a powerful voice of hope for those of us who look to the stars as the origin and destiny of life. Readers will take care to note that the challenges of survival are not only technical, political, and economic, but that careful consideration of social and environmental issues is imperative. Completing global civilization, creating a spacefaring civilization, and entering galactic civilization, will require more than extraordinary engineering, it will demand generations of wisdom, compassion for all forms of life, and intense respect for the state of undisturbed nature.