Robert Zubrin
Encyclopedia
Robert Zubrin is an American aerospace engineer and author, best known for his advocacy of the manned exploration of Mars
. He was the driving force behind Mars Direct
—a proposal 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.
Disappointed with the lack of interest from government in Mars exploration and after the success of his book The Case for Mars
as well as leadership experience at the National Space Society
, Zubrin established the Mars Society
in 1998. This is an international organization advocating a manned Mars mission
as a goal, by private funding if possible.
Zubrin lives in Lakewood, Colorado; he has two daughters, Rachel and Sarah.
from the University of Rochester
(1974), and a masters degree in Aeronautics
and Astronautics
, a masters degree in Nuclear Engineering
, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering — 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 five books. He 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 development of advanced concepts for interplanetary missions" (The Case for Mars 1996). He is also President of both the Mars Society 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). He was awarded his first patent at age 20 in 1972 for Three Player Chess
. His inventions also include the nuclear salt-water rocket
.
position in the ethics of terraforming
. Discussions of the ethics of terraforming
often make reference to a series of public debates Zubrin has held with his friend Christopher McKay, 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)
, 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.
Robert Zubrin was also recently featured in a CBC Television documentary special The Passionate Eye dubbed "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
. The lyrics form an acrostic spelling "Robert The Case For Mars Zubrin".
In 2010 Robert Zubrin was featured in the Symphony of Science
video "The Case for Mars" along with Carl Sagan
, Brian Cox
, and Penelope Boston
.
The fictional character Dr. Zachary Walzer in the 2010 independent VODO
series Pioneer One
is loosely based on Robert Zubrin.
Mars
Mars is the fourth planet from the Sun in the Solar System. The planet is named after the Roman god of war, Mars. It is often described as the "Red Planet", as the iron oxide prevalent on its surface gives it a reddish appearance...
. He was the driving force behind Mars Direct
Mars Direct
Mars Direct is a proposal for a manned mission to Mars. Proponents of the scheme have claimed it to be both cost-effective and that it can be conducted with current technology. It was originally detailed in a research paper by NASA engineers Robert Zubrin and David Baker in 1990, and later expanded...
—a proposal 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
Rocket propellant is mass that is stored in some form of propellant tank, prior to being used as the propulsive mass that is ejected from a rocket engine in the form of a fluid jet to produce thrust. A fuel propellant is often burned with an oxidizer propellant to produce large volumes of very hot...
for the surface stay and return journey. A modified version of the plan was subsequently adopted by NASA
NASA
The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is the agency of the United States government that is responsible for the nation's civilian space program and for aeronautics and aerospace research...
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
The Case For Mars
The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must is a nonfiction science book by Robert Zubrin, first published in 1996....
as well as leadership experience at the National Space Society
National Space Society
The National Space Society is an international nonprofit 501, educational, and scientific organization specializing in space advocacy...
, Zubrin established the Mars Society
Mars Society
The Mars Society is an international space advocacy non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the human exploration and settlement of the planet Mars. It was founded by Robert Zubrin and others in 1998 and attracted the support of notable science fiction writers and filmmakers, including Kim...
in 1998. This is an international organization advocating a manned Mars mission
Manned mission to Mars
A manned mission to Mars has been the subject of science fiction, engineering, and scientific proposals throughout the 20th century and into the 21st century...
as a goal, by private funding if possible.
Zubrin lives in Lakewood, Colorado; he has two daughters, Rachel and Sarah.
Qualifications and professional experience
Zubrin holds a B.A. in MathematicsMathematics
Mathematics is the study of quantity, space, structure, and change. Mathematicians seek out patterns and formulate new conjectures. Mathematicians resolve the truth or falsity of conjectures by mathematical proofs, which are arguments sufficient to convince other mathematicians of their validity...
from the University of Rochester
University of Rochester
The University of Rochester is a private, nonsectarian, research university in Rochester, New York, United States. The university grants undergraduate and graduate degrees, including doctoral and professional degrees. The university has six schools and various interdisciplinary programs.The...
(1974), and a masters degree in Aeronautics
Aeronautics
Aeronautics is the science involved with the study, design, and manufacturing of airflight-capable machines, or the techniques of operating aircraft and rocketry within the atmosphere...
and Astronautics
Astronautics
Astronautics, and related astronautical engineering, is the theory and practice of navigation beyond the Earth's atmosphere. In other words, it is the science and technology of space flight....
, a masters degree in Nuclear Engineering
Nuclear engineering
Nuclear engineering is the branch of engineering concerned with the application of the breakdown as well as the fusion of atomic nuclei and/or the application of other sub-atomic physics, based on the principles of nuclear physics...
, and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering — all from the University of Washington
University of Washington
University of Washington is a public research university, founded in 1861 in Seattle, Washington, United States. The UW is the largest university in the Northwest and the oldest public university on the West Coast. The university has three campuses, with its largest campus in the University...
. 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 five books. He was a member of Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin
Lockheed Martin is an American global aerospace, defense, security, and advanced technology company with worldwide interests. It was formed by the merger of Lockheed Corporation with Martin Marietta in March 1995. It is headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, in the Washington Metropolitan Area....
's scenario development team charged with developing strategies for space exploration
Space exploration
Space exploration is the use of space technology to explore outer space. Physical exploration of space is conducted both by human spaceflights and by robotic spacecraft....
. 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" (The Case for Mars 1996). He is also President of both the Mars Society 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). He was awarded his first patent at age 20 in 1972 for Three Player Chess
Three-handed chess
Three player chess is a family of chess variants specially designed to be played by three people. There are many variations of three-handed chess...
. His inventions also include the nuclear salt-water rocket
Nuclear salt-water rocket
A nuclear salt-water rocket is a proposed type of nuclear thermal rocket designed by Robert Zubrin that would be fueled by water bearing dissolved salts of Plutonium or U235...
.
Books
- The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We MustThe Case For MarsThe Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must is a nonfiction science book by Robert Zubrin, first published in 1996....
(1996), with Richard Wagner. This outlines the Mars Direct plan along with speculation about the economic, social and technical viability of future Mars colonization. - Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring CivilizationEntering Space: Creating a Spacefaring CivilizationEntering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization is a nonfiction book by Robert Zubrin, published in 1999.The book details Zubrin's ambitious plans for space exploration, with an eye towards colonization. It starts with an overview of the current status of space exploration. It then goes into...
(1999). This ranges from the current status quo and innovative startups of the aerospace industry, through exploration and colonization of Mars, to a more futuristic look at humanity's possible colonization of the solar systemSolar SystemThe Solar System consists of the Sun and the astronomical objects gravitationally bound in orbit around it, all of which formed from the collapse of a giant molecular cloud approximately 4.6 billion years ago. The vast majority of the system's mass is in the Sun...
and the feasibility of interstellar travelInterstellar travelInterstellar space travel is manned or unmanned travel between stars. The concept of interstellar travel in starships is a staple of science fiction. Interstellar travel is much more difficult than interplanetary travel. Intergalactic travel, or travel between different galaxies, is even more...
with known physics. - Mars On Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic (2003). Zubrin recounts the origins and progress of the Mars Society's Mars Analog Research Station project, including a variety of perils, both mundane and adventurous, that were overcome in establishing the first analog Mars habitat on Devon IslandDevon IslandDevon Island , claimed to be the largest uninhabited island on Earth, is located in Baffin Bay, Qikiqtaaluk Region, Nunavut, Canada. It is one of the larger members of the Canadian Arctic Archipelago, the second-largest of the Queen Elizabeth Islands, Canada's sixth largest island, and the 27th...
in the high Arctic. He offers highlights of what has been learned so far through that effort. - First LandingFirst LandingFirst Landing is a 2002 science fiction novel by Robert Zubrin that tells the story of the first manned 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), a hard science fictionHard science fictionHard science fiction is a category of science fiction characterized by an emphasis on scientific or technical detail, or on scientific accuracy, or on both. The term was first used in print in 1957 by P. Schuyler Miller in a review of John W. Campbell, Jr.'s Islands of Space in Astounding Science...
novel about a future Mars flight using the Mars Direct plan. - The Holy Land (2003). This is an "SFScience fictionScience fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
satireSatireSatire is primarily a literary genre or form, although in practice it can also be found in the graphic and performing arts. In satire, vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, ideally with the intent of shaming individuals, and society itself, into improvement...
on the Middle East crisis and the War on TerrorismWar on TerrorismThe War on Terror is a term commonly applied to an international military campaign led by the United States and the United Kingdom with the support of other North Atlantic Treaty Organisation as well as non-NATO countries...
, and concerns what happens when the liberal WesternWestern cultureWestern culture, sometimes equated with Western civilization or European civilization, refers to cultures of European origin and is used very broadly to refer to a heritage of social norms, ethical values, traditional customs, religious beliefs, political systems, and specific artifacts and...
Galactic EmpireGalactic empireGalactic empires are a common trope used in science fiction and science fantasy, particularly in space opera. Many authors have either used a galaxy-spanning empire as background, or written about the growth or decline of such an empire...
relocates the oppressed Minervan sectSectA sect is a group with distinctive religious, political or philosophical beliefs. Although in past it was mostly used to refer to religious groups, it has since expanded and in modern culture can refer to any organization that breaks away from a larger one to follow a different set of rules and...
to their ancient homeland of KennewickKennewick, WashingtonKennewick is a city in Benton County in the southeastern part of the U.S. state of Washington, near the Hanford nuclear site. It is the most populous of the three cities collectively referred to as the Tri-Cities...
, Washington, in the midst of a US ruled by Christian fundamentalist fanaticFanaticismFanaticism is a belief or behavior involving uncritical zeal, particularly for an extreme religious or political cause or in some cases sports, or with an obsessive enthusiasm for a pastime or hobby...
s.". The story was partly inspired by ČapekKarel CapekKarel Čapek was Czech writer of the 20th century.-Biography:Born in 1890 in the Bohemian mountain village of Malé Svatoňovice to an overbearing, emotional mother and a distant yet adored father, Čapek was the youngest of three siblings...
's War with the NewtsWar with the NewtsWar with the Newts , also translated as War with the Salamanders, is a 1936 satirical science fiction story by Czech author Karel Čapek. It concerns the discovery in the Pacific of a sea-dwelling race, an intelligent breed of newts, who are initially enslaved and exploited...
. - Benedict Arnold: A Drama of the American Revolution in Five Acts (2005). This is an effort to humanize and show the multiple dimensions of Benedict ArnoldBenedict ArnoldBenedict Arnold V was a general during the American Revolutionary War. He began the war in the Continental Army but later defected to the British Army. While a general on the American side, he obtained command of the fort at West Point, New York, and plotted to surrender it to the British forces...
, and to contrast the democratic values embodied in the spirit of the Revolution with the socially bankrupt classism embodied in the British subjects who won Arnold to their side. - Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror by Breaking Free of Oil (2007). An expansion on his recent articles criticizing both reliance on oil and the potential for hydrogen energyHydrogen economyThe hydrogen economy is a proposed system of delivering energy using hydrogen. The term hydrogen economy was coined by John Bockris during a talk he gave in 1970 at General Motors Technical Center....
, while highlighting the benefits of switching more toward methanolMethanolMethanol, also known as methyl alcohol, wood alcohol, wood naphtha or wood spirits, is a chemical with the formula CH3OH . It is the simplest alcohol, and is a light, volatile, colorless, flammable liquid with a distinctive odor very similar to, but slightly sweeter than, ethanol...
and ethanolEthanolEthanol, also called ethyl alcohol, pure alcohol, grain alcohol, or drinking alcohol, is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid. It is a psychoactive drug and one of the oldest recreational drugs. Best known as the type of alcohol found in alcoholic beverages, it is also used in thermometers, as a...
. It carries an endorsement from former CIACentral Intelligence AgencyThe Central Intelligence Agency is a civilian intelligence agency of the United States government. It is an executive agency and reports directly to the Director of National Intelligence, responsible for providing national security intelligence assessment to senior United States policymakers...
director James WoolseyR. James Woolsey, Jr.Robert James Woolsey Jr. is a foreign policy specialist and former Director of Central Intelligence and head of the Central Intelligence Agency .-Early life:...
. - How to Live on Mars (2008). A tongue-in-cheek technically accurate guidebook for Mars-bound Earthlings about how to survive and thrive on the Red Planet, written from the point of view of a 22nd-century Mars native.
- Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudo-Scientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism (2011).
Books edited or co-authored
Zubrin has also edited or co-edited the following books, most of which include contributions he wrote:- Islands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing SpaceIslands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing SpaceIslands in the Sky: Bold New Ideas for Colonizing Space is a book composed of a collection of factual articles on space colonization, several from recognized experts in the field....
(1996), co-edited with Stanley Schmidt. This is a collection of fifteen selected non-fiction entries that had been published in Analog magazine over the years; it includes five articles authored or co-authored by Zubrin, including "The Hypersonic Skyhook", "Mars Direct: A Proposal for the Rapid Exploration and Colonization of the Red Planet" (co-authored with David A. Baker), "Colonizing the Outer Solar System", "Terraforming Mars" (co-authored with Christopher McKayChristopher McKayChristopher P. McKay is a planetary scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, studying planetary atmospheres, astrobiology, and terraforming. McKay received his PhD in astrogeophysics from the University of Colorado in 1982 and his bachelor's degree from Florida Atlantic University.-Overview:McKay...
), and "The Magnetic Sail". Notable additional contributors include Robert L. Forward and the godfather of terraforming, Martyn J. FoggMartyn J. Fogg-Biography:After becoming a dental surgeon, Fogg earned a degree in physics and geology and a master's degree in astrophysics, and is working on a Ph.D. in planetary science. Fogg lives in London.-Contributions to Planetary Engineering:...
, each of whom contributed two articles. - 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).
- Proceedings of the Founding Convention of the Mars Society (1999), co-edited with Maggie Zubrin. This contains articles corresponding to talks presented at the founding convention of the Mars Society in Boulder, Colorado in August 1998; it includes contributions from Zubrin, Buzz AldrinBuzz AldrinBuzz Aldrin is an American mechanical engineer, retired United States Air Force pilot and astronaut who was the Lunar Module pilot on Apollo 11, the first manned lunar landing in history...
, Martyn Fogg, and many others. - On to Mars: Colonizing a New World (2002 Apogee BooksApogee BooksApogee Books is an imprint of Canadian publishing house Collector's Guide Publishing. The Apogee imprint began with "Apollo 8 The NASA Mission Reports" in November 1998 at the request of astronaut Buzz Aldrin, second man on the moon. The first publication by Apogee was printed to celebrate the 30th...
), co-edited with Frank CrossmanFrank CrossmanFrank 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 co-editor with Robert Zubrin of two books of essays...
. This contains articles corresponding to talks presented at the annual conventions of the Mars Society in Boulder in 1999, in TorontoTorontoToronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Ontario, Canada in 2000, and at Stanford UniversityStanford UniversityThe Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University or Stanford, is a private research university on an campus located near Palo Alto, California. It is situated in the northwestern Santa Clara Valley on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately northwest of San...
, Palo Alto, California in 2001. - On to Mars 2 : Exploring and Settling a New World (2005 Apogee BooksApogee BooksApogee Books is an imprint of Canadian publishing house Collector's Guide Publishing. The Apogee imprint began with "Apollo 8 The NASA Mission Reports" in November 1998 at the request of astronaut Buzz Aldrin, second man on the moon. The first publication by Apogee was printed to celebrate the 30th...
), co-edited with Frank Crossman. This contains over 130 articles corresponding to talks presented at the annual conventions of the Mars Society in Boulder in 2002, in EugeneEugene, OregonEugene is the second largest city in the U.S. state of Oregon and the seat of Lane County. It is located at the south end of the Willamette Valley, at the confluence of the McKenzie and Willamette rivers, about east of the Oregon Coast.As of the 2010 U.S...
, Oregon in 2003, and in ChicagoChicagoChicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, Illinois in 2004.
The ethics of terraforming
Dr. Zubrin is noted as an advocate of a moderately anthropocentricAnthropocentrism
Anthropocentrism describes the tendency for human beings to regard themselves as the central and most significant entities in the universe, or the assessment of reality through an exclusively human perspective....
position in the ethics of terraforming
Ethics of terraforming
The ethics of terraforming has constituted a philosophical debate within biology, ecology, and environmental ethics as to whether terraforming other worlds is an ethical endeavor.-Support:...
. Discussions of the ethics of terraforming
Terraforming
Terraforming of a planet, moon, or other body is the hypothetical process of deliberately modifying its atmosphere, temperature, surface topography or ecology to be similar to those of Earth, in order to make it habitable by terrestrial organisms.The term is sometimes used more generally as a...
often make reference to a series of public debates Zubrin has held with his friend Christopher McKay, who advocates a moderately biocentric
Biocentrism (ethics)
Biocentrism , in a political and ecological sense, is an ethical point of view which extends inherent value to non-human species, ecosystems, and processes in nature - regardless of their sentience...
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 aging Robert Zubrin also appears as a background character in The Martian Race (1999) by Gregory BenfordGregory Benford
Gregory Benford is an American science fiction author and astrophysicist who is on the faculty of the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of California, Irvine...
, 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.
Robert Zubrin was also recently featured in a CBC Television documentary special The Passionate Eye dubbed "The Mars Underground".
The songwriter and musician Frank Black
Frank Black
Black Francis is an American singer, songwriter and guitarist. He is best known as the frontman of the influential alternative rock band Pixies, with whom he performs under the stage name Black Francis. Following the band's breakup in 1993, he embarked on a solo career under the name 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
Dog in the Sand, Frank Black's third album with backing group the Catholics was released by the Cooking Vinyl record label in 2001, and was produced by Nick Vincent. The album was generally met with favorable reviews...
. The lyrics form an acrostic spelling "Robert The Case For Mars Zubrin".
In 2010 Robert Zubrin was featured in the Symphony of Science
Symphony of Science
The Symphony of Science is a music project created by Washington-based electronic musician John Boswell. The project seeks to "spread scientific knowledge and philosophy through musical remixes." Boswell uses pitch-corrected audio and video samples from television programs featuring popular...
video "The Case for Mars" along with Carl Sagan
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan was an American astronomer, astrophysicist, cosmologist, author, science popularizer and science communicator in astronomy and natural sciences. He published more than 600 scientific papers and articles and was author, co-author or editor of more than 20 books...
, Brian Cox
Brian Cox (physicist)
Brian Edward Cox, OBE , is a British particle physicist, a Royal Society University Research Fellow and a professor at the University of Manchester. He is a member of the High Energy Physics group at the University of Manchester, and works on the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider at...
, and Penelope Boston
Penelope Boston
Penelope J. Boston is a speleologist. She is associate director of the National Cave and Karst Research Institutein Carlsbad, New Mexico, and founder and director of the Cave and Karst Studies Program at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology in Socorro...
.
The fictional character Dr. Zachary Walzer in the 2010 independent VODO
VODO
VODO is an online media distributor releasing films under a Creative Commons license using the BitTorrent protocol. Filmmakers can upload films on the site and selected works are also promoted on third-party sites and services such as uTorrent or The Pirate Bay, Mininova and OneDDL.Past releases...
series Pioneer One
Pioneer One
Pioneer One is a 2010 American web series produced by Josh Bernhard and Bracey Smith. It is notable both for being funded purely through donations and for being the first series created for and released on BitTorrent networks.-Background:...
is loosely based on Robert Zubrin.
Patents
, "Reusable rocket airplane", "Reusable rocket-propelled high altitude airplane and method and apparatus for mid-air oxidizer transfer to said airplane", "Nitrous oxide based oxygen supply system", "Three-player chess board"External links
- The Mars Society
- Symphony of Science – The Case for Mars (ft. Zubrin, Sagan, Cox & Boston)
- Pioneer Astronautics
- "The Political Economy of Very Large Space Projects"
- An Energy Revolution article by Robert Zubrin in The American Enterprise
- Getting Space Exploration Right article by Robert Zubrin in The New Atlantis
- Review of Zubrin's book Benedict Arnold
- The Hydrogen Hoax article by Robert Zubrin in The New Atlantis
- Interview on the SciFiDimensions Podcast