Robert Zubrin

Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer, author, and advocate for the human exploration of Mars. 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. 

NASA subsequently adopted a modified version of the plan 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 the 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 international organization advocates a human mission to Mars as a goal, with private funding if possible.

Zubrin was born in New York City's Brooklyn borough on April 9, 1952. His father was descended from Russian Jewish immigrants. 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 (1974); he was a science teacher for 7 years before becoming an engineer. He earned an M.S. in Nuclear Engineering (1984), an M.S. in Aeronautics and Astronautics (1986), and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering (1992) — all from the University of Washington. 

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 the Mars Society and Pioneer Astronautics, a private company that researches and develops innovative aerospace technologies. Zubrin is the co-inventor on a U.S. design patent, a U.S. utility patent on a hybrid rocket/airplane, and 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 a fellow at the Center for Security Policy. During his professional career, Zubrin was a member of Lockheed Martin's scenario development team charged with developing strategies for space exploration. He was also "a senior engineer with the Martin Marietta Astronautics company, working as one of its leaders in the 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 with Mitchell Burnside Clapp, an aerospace engineer from the US Air Force, 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 writes about how both large aerospace firms, and the US Government, 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 colonization on Mars. The work of the Mars Society was successful enough to encourage the US Government not to cut funding for several Mars rover missions.