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Robert Zubrin

The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must Paperback – November 3, 1997

by Robert Zubrin (Author), Richard Wagner (Author), Arthur C. Clarke (Foreword)

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Since the beginning of human history Mars has been an alluring dream—the stuff of legends, gods, and mystery. The planet most like ours, it has still been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit.

Now with the advent of a revolutionary new plan, all this has changed. Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, presented here with illustrations, photographs, and engaging anecdotes.

The Case for Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions. It explains step-by-step how we can use present-day technology to send humans to Mars within ten years; actually produce fuel and oxygen on the planet's surface with Martian natural resources; how we can build bases and settlements; and how we can one day "terraform" Mars—a process that can alter the atmosphere of planets and pave the way for sustainable life.

Print length

368 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Free Press
Publication date

November 3, 1997
Dimensions

6 x 1.25 x 8.75 inches
ISBN-10

0684835509
ISBN-13

978-0684835501
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Editorial Reviews

Review

...one of the most provocative and hopeful documents I have read about the space program in 20 years. -- The New York Times Book Review, Dennis Overbye

Michael D. Lemonick Newsday In this thoughtful, thorough and inspiring book...[Zubrin] systematically and convincingly destroys the conventional wisdom about Mars travel. -- Review

About the Author

Robert Zubrin, formerly a senior engineer at Lockheed Martin, is the founder of Pioneer Astronautics, a space-exploration research and development firm. Currently chairman of the executive committee of the National Space Society, Dr. Zubrin lives with his family in Indian Hills, Colorado.

Richard Wagner is the former editor of Ad Astra, the journal of the National Space Society.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Free Press; 1st edition (November 3, 1997)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 368 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0684835509
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0684835501
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.7 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 8.75 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #3,719,945 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #559 in Mars
- #1,904 in Astronautics & Space Flight
- #3,969 in Aeronautics & Astronautics (Books)

Customer Reviews:
385 ratings

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Matthew Kresal

A Compelling Case

Reviewed in the United States on July 10, 2020

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Just under a year ago from when I'm writing these words was a half-century since Apollo 11 landed on the Moon. We're just under two and a half years away from when Apollo 17 left the Moon and ended humanity's forays into deep space, to date anyway. Since then, the question has remained the same, "what next?" If you're Robert Zubrin, then that answer can be summed up in one word: Mars. And in 1996, and with updating in 2011, he made a compelling case for the Red Planet.

Fundamentally, The Case for Mars is precisely that. Zubrin, the founder of the Mars Society and co-creator of the Mars Direct plan, put forward just how we might get to the Red Planet in the short term. Across nearly 190 pages, Zubrin offers a crash course on Mars and his proposal. Readers get the history of the human fascination with Mars, our robotic efforts to explore the planet, and just why we haven't put human boots on its surface yet. Doing that, Zubrin gets into the bit he is most earnest about: talking about how to get a crew to Mars. Those familiar with the Mars Direct proposal via numerous documentaries and articles will find a full laying out of what such a voyage will take, from hardware and crew selection to the risks involved. If you need convincing that Mars is a place to go to, and that Mars Direct is the way to do it, then the first half of the book is what you need. Even better, it's written in a style and language where almost anyone can understand it.

It's in the back half, give or take, where the book runs into some trouble. Getting into colonization and the question of terraforming, the book becomes far more technical than it had been in previous chapters. To the point that, as a space enthusiast rather than being an engineer or chemist, I found myself a little out of my depth, I'm not afraid to say. The concluding chapter, The View from Earth, and the epilogue too, for that matter, likely won't sit well with some readers, especially with the nostalgic angle for both the golden days of Apollo and the American frontier. For a book that is so much about looking forward, it suddenly feels very backward-looking. Not to mention Zubrin's support for a potential Anasazi X Prize model to get to Mars in the final chapter. After all, the events of the last decade suggest that, despite the hype around it, it isn't likely to produce the Mars mission that Zubrin hopes it will.

For all of its flaws, Zubrin makes a compelling Case for Mars. Indeed, you can see his influence on Mars missions both in fiction (the film Mission to Mars or Andy Weir's novel The Martian) and in reality with NASA's planning. A human voyage to the Red Planet is still a ways off, but one can't help but feel that Zubrin's book and advocacy have gotten us closer. And that, when we do go, it'll likely be something akin to what he described here.

2 people found this helpful

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Justin Knutson

Maybe you should join the Mars Society.

Reviewed in the United States on February 17, 2020

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I was born in 1981. All I have ever known is the era of failure and stagnation at NASA. I saw the Challenger blow up, they showed it in most classes in America, because there was a teacher was on board. As a young man I would read Popular Science. I would complain to friends about NASA not progressing. That space exploration had died because lesser men had failed to understand what it had given us. This book was written at a time when the do nothing attitude at NASA was at it's worst. We once did great things. We knew that we had to create the future. It doesn't just happen. This book speaks to that pioneering instinct in some of us.It's a shot across the bow, a challenge to society. I found it excellent, hilarious, charming and very informative.

2 people found this helpful

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Lonelyringer

Astonishing array of inter-disciplinary analyses of how and why Mars should be mankind's next step

Reviewed in the United States on July 17, 2017

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Very articulate treatment of technical, technological, medical, economic, and political factors promoting and limiting pursuit of humanity's next true frontier-Mars. Author debunks politically motivated economic arguments against our next celestial outreach by showing clearly that we can begin to travel to and populate Mars AND make it moderately habitable with the technology we have now and have already paid to develop. Very exciting and layman friendly read.

7 people found this helpful

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Jorge Amodio

Some arguments and comments by the author go actually against of making a compelling case

Reviewed in the United States on September 21, 2021

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I’m still reading this but while there are many reasons and a compelling case to go to Mars, some of the arguments the author makes including undermining and criticizing NASA’s work (I admit the agency is not perfect) the lack of differentiating the context and basic elements, such as distance, time, etc, to compare the Moon missions and a potential manned Mars mission, is appalling and goes against a good case about why to go to Mars. And he misses the point big time about other missions like the Space Shuttle, ISS, etc. I’m not sure if I’d recommend this book 👎👎

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Kevin Orrman-Rossiter

Missions to Mars

Reviewed in the United States on April 13, 2014

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Forty years ago we last stepped foot on the Moon. Currently, with our occupation of the low-Earth orbit international space station, we are space residents. In the visionary Mission to Mars (National Geographic Society, 2013), moon-walker, space advocate, Gemini 12 and Apollo 11 astronaut, Buzz Aldrin, challenges us to take a further step and colonise Mars. Aldrin advocates bypassing the Moon and instead make progressive steps to mars via comets, asteroids and Mar’s moon Phobos. From Phobos astronauts using remote controlled robots will prepare the Mars landing site and habitats. Aldrin states that regular space travel to Mars would be too expensive with Apollo-style modular expendable components, instead favoring a gravity-powered spaceship cycling permanently between the Earth and Mars. Although strongly advocating for a US led enterprise Aldrin, thankfully, sees cooperation, rather than competition with China, Europe, Russia, India and Japan as being the way forward.

Currently we have the Dutch company Mars One are recruiting people to be part of a permanent human settlement on Mars by 2023; the US commercial firm SpaceX have their Red Dragon proposal to put a sample-return mission to Mars by 2018 (seen as a necessary precursor by NASA to a human exploration); the Chinese have a long term plan for non-crewed flights to Mars by 2033 and crewed phase of missions to Mars during 2040-2060. Although the funding mechanisms and motivations are different these plans all make use of one idea or more from book The Case for Mars (Free Press, 1996, 2011). Written by aerospace engineer and founder of the Mars Society, Robert Zubrin, it is a meticulous and plausible way to settle Mars. Aldrin’s book is more broad and his ideas fit well with current technologies, US aspirations for asteroid capture and exploitation, and NASA’s focus on the planet Mars.

The veteran Mars Exploration Rover, Opportunity, is still surprising us with its discoveries, more than nine years after the completion of its 90 day primary mission. While the sprightly youngster Curiosity is regularly rewriting and deepening our understanding of Mars - still only half-way through its three year primary mission.

Appreciating what it takes to get a scientific laboratory wheeling its way across Mars is enticingly portrayed in another new book Red Rover (Basic Books, 2013). This first-hand account is written by Roger Wiens, lead scientist for ChemCam - the laser zapping remote chemical analytical instrument onboard the rover Curiosity. It covers his involvement in robotic space exploration from his initiation in 1990 on the NASA Genesis probe to the joyous moment when Curiosity zapped its first rock in early 2013. If this piques your curiosity then the earlier Roving Mars: Spirit, Opportunity, and the exploration of the Red planet (Scribe, 2005) is well worth tracking down. A passionate insight into the 2004 twin rover Spirit and Opportunity mission by Steve Squyres, the mission’s scientific principal investigator.

These robotic missions are prudent preparatory steps to Aldrin provides and engaging overview of the technical, economic and political reasons for humanity to journey to Mars. It has been a self-professed vision of his since his return from the Moon. This books, though, represents Aldrin’s first attempt to put the whole of the puzzle, his Unified Space Vision, together in one place. For a more technical read on the settlement and exploration of Mars then Zubrin’s revised and updated The Case for Mars (Free press, 2011) and Marswalk One: first steps on a new planet (Praxis, 2005) by astronautical historian, writer and designers David Shayler, Andrew Salmon and Michael Shayler are also recommended. Mission to Mars though is a clarion call, essential reading for anyone interested in humanity’s next big step.

This review was first published on dragonlaughing

2 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Stuart Aken

Superb Resource for SciFi Writers.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on April 26, 2016

Verified Purchase

Subtitled, The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must, this extraordinary work by Robert Zubrin, with Richard Wagner, is an invaluable resource for anyone interested in Mars either as an observer or as, in my case, a writer of science fiction.
In researching for my novel about Mars, I’ve read a great deal of the literature both in books and online. Zubrin’s book has proved the most thought-provoking, and the most inspirational. An aerospace engineer and writer, he’s also the founder of the Mars Society and a driving force behind Mars Direct, a proposal designed to produce real reductions in the cost and complexity of such a mission.
The book is, in some senses, a technical manual for creating a project to get to Mars and colonise the planet. There is fascinating history revealed here. But, primarily, there is much technical detail of the chemistry, physics, biology and engineering involved in the process of reaching and staying on the red planet.
He is sceptical of the recent projects currently undertaken by NASA and singularly frustrated by the small-minded attitudes of the politicians in the USA who dictate the what and the where of space exploration. He is also scathing of some of the ideas put forward by contemporaries. But he backs up his concerns with evidence and rational argument.
I’m no scientist, though I have a more than average interest in space and the science of space exploration. I read, and took copious notes from, this book in order to be as technically informed about matters Martian to allow me to write a credible story set on the red planet. The content has certainly allowed me to feel I’ve done that, when taken together with the other research I’ve undertaken. This book, however, provides more than mere facts and formulae. It’s full of ideas about how certain difficult tasks might be achieved using current technology and knowledge, and how others may be managed in the future using developing technology.
For the amateur, the person without deep science training, this is not an easy book. In parts it describes processes and chemical reactions that will be well outside the experience of such readers. But the information is given in such a manner that, with a little application, the gist, if not an absolute detailed understanding, can be gained.
As part of my research, I also watched the recent movie, The Martian, as I’d heard its science was very good. It was entertaining, certainly, but some of the science was clearly not as good as it could have been. Since I’d employed certain aspects of folklore about Mars as elements of the story I’ve already produced in first draft form, I’m very glad I undertook this additional research prior to editing. Some of those elements I took as factual turn out to be based on fallacies. No matter; rewriting is an essential part of any fiction writer’s skill. And I shall now rewrite with the knowledge and confidence of an informed storyteller as a result of reading this excellent book.
There is passion as well as erudition in this lengthy read. The author clearly knows what he is talking about and has a deep understanding of the technical issues as well as the social aspects of colonising a distant world. He debunks certain fondly-held theories, explains why others are flawed and inoperable, and presents his own solutions to the many problems in terms that are credible and inspiring. If you have any interest in the only other planet in our solar system that may be made capable of sustaining complex life, I suggest you give this book a go. I’m very pleased I did.

One person found this helpful

Bent A

Is space travel an interesting subject for you? Read this!

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 5, 2016

Verified Purchase

I'm reasonably interested in astronomy and in space travel. In a discussion on a website (can't remember which) about future space travel someone strongly recommended me to read this book, so I bought it. I'm glad I did! Before reading it I had the impression that, ok, here I will get some information about how a travel to Mars could be accomplished and why we should pick Mars instead of Venus or returning to the Moon.

What I didn't know was just how much more attractive Mars is than other destinations within the Solar System. The book is in this respect amazing. Filled with facts Zubrin demonstrates not just how expenses can be massively cut back; why we don't need NASA's highly expensive "monster plans"; but also how necessary it is to travel to Mars and how much human civilization will gain by doing so.

If you are interested in space travel and the future I strongly urge you to buy and read this book.

2 people found this helpful

M. D. Tomkinson

A good read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2013

Verified Purchase

An excellent introduction - if a little optimistic given the current state of technology. I like the view that we can get there for $50 billion.

However, he makes a good case for why we need to get to Mars. It is written very much from the perpective of why America needs this and is currently the only country which can get there. But even the updated version does not take account of the fact that the USA could probably not make the attempt given the financial state of that country.

The only way it will happen though is via another space race - as in the race to the Moon where money was no object. The only way that will happen is after the Chinese annex the Moon in the late 2020s.

That may wake up America but I somewhat doubt it. The Red Planet will eventually be the Yellow one.

The book is a little technical in parts but not to a degree where the average person could not follow the reasoning or understand what is being said. The tone can be somewhat 'evangelical' but he believes what he is saying so can be forgiven.

3 people found this helpful

Joel Greaves

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on July 26, 2018

Verified Purchase

Mars! That's were I want to go now! Take me to the Red planet!

Amazon Customer

Five Stars

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 27, 2018

Verified Purchase

OK.

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