Tuesday, October 04, 2005
“The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must”
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Dr. Robert Zubrin will discuss the necessity and viability of settling the red planet at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, October 20, in Mitchell Auditorium in the Health Professions Center. The planet most like ours, Mars has been thought impossible to reach, let alone explore and inhabit, but Zubrin has crafted a daring blueprint. His is not a vision for the far-away future or one that will cost us impossible billions. In “The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must,” Zubrin will explain step-by-step how we can use present-day technology to send humans to Mars within 10 to 12 years; actually produce fuel and oxygen on the planet’s surface with Martian natural resources; build bases and settlements; and one day terraform Mars — a process that can alter the atmosphere of planets and pave the way for sustainable life. Carl Sagan told The Denver Post, “Bob Zubrin really, nearly alone, changed our thinking on this issue.” In August of 1998, Zubrin founded the International Mars Society, an organization made up of individuals from every walk of life and dedicated to the concept of manned missions to and the settlement of Mars. Zubrin is a former senior engineer with Lockheed Martin and the founder of Pioneer Astronautics, a space exploration research and development firm. His book, Entering Space: Creating a Space Faring Civilization was published in 1999 by Penguin Putnam. His “Mars Direct” plan was the basis for The Learning Channel’s (TLC) program Mars: Pioneering the Planet. His latest book is entitled Mars on Earth: The Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic. It is the story of Zubrin and his band of fellow scientists and engineers who simulated a manned mission to the Red Planet in the most desolate region on Earth. The lecture is part of the University Core Curriculum Speaker Series and is free and open to the public. A reception will follow. For more information, contact John Gottcent, University Core Curriculum director, at 812/464-1750. |
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