The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must

Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, that experts are hailing as the most visionary and pragmatic step toward expanding human activity in space since the Apollo Moon landings. Presented here with illustrations, photographs, and engaging anecdotes, Dr. Zubrin's plan will revive our hopes and dreams and convince us that other worlds can be reached - affordably and within our lifetime.
Unlike the dead world of the Moon, the Martian landscape abounds with ancient canyons, dried river beds, the remains of frozen polar oceans, and enormous ice caps. The possibilities for exploration and discovery are nearly limitless; but significant exploration of Mars can only occur on her surface, and in order to do that we must be able to survive there. In the great tradition of human exploration, Dr. Zubrin's plan calls for a travel-light and live-off-the-land approach. He 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.
Under Dr. Zubrin's program, a human mission is only the first step toward a day when research bases and eventual colonies can be developed on Mars' surface. Mars possesses enormous chemical and mineral resources, all of which can be put to use in pursuit of travel, exploration, structures, and a variety of human activities on a planet that is neither as harsh nor as unreachable as we popularly believe.
The Case For Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions. It is a plan that can be put into action today if we are willing to rethink our traditional methods and costs. Zubrin maps out how the use of Martian resources, innovations, streamlined approaches, and a series of manageable government grants coupled with the efforts of private enterprise can make repeated humans-to-Mars missions possible.

Robert Zubrin, formerly a senior engineer at Lockheed Martin, is the founder of Pioneer Astronautics, a space-exploration research and development firm.