The Case for Mars

The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must

By: Robert Zubrin, Richard Wagner, Arthur C. Clarke - Foreword

Narrated by: Sean Runnette

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 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 10 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.

©2011 Robert Zubrin (P)2018 Tantor

A loving treatise and recipe for Mars colonization

Methodical and philosophical, Zubrin lays out the case for Mars from the unique standpoint of the classicist who happens to also be a highly skilled and imaginative scientist and engineer.

Best book you will ever listen or read!

This book has changed so many of my thought about mars, how to get there, and the implication of everything over time.

case for mars

great book . great narration. really wish audible would send a pdf with the book so I could see the graphics and pictures that I'm sure were in the book.

The Real Science of Getting to Mars

If the book "The Martian" was of interest, then imagine how a book detailing the real science on obtaining this goal would be. For me, this was the book. Zubrin is well known in scientific circles for his engineering knowledge and mapping out the details of exploring Mars. Why did we literally end our human space exploration following the Apollo programs years ago? Is NASA a help or a hindrance in human exploration to Mars? How do we financially make this happen? How do we actually survive on the surface as we explore? What are the real dangers in obtaining this goal; not dangers invented by political opponents trying to prevent further space exploration? He lays out why humans and not just robots must go to Mars; not just to say we went, but to actually study Mars and why it is important to do so. If you have an interest in the scientific answers to these and many other questions about Mars exploration, then I highly recommend this book for you. The title, "The Case for Mars", is definitely self-explanatory about the contents of this book.

Excellent! But!!!

Highly compelling! Not that I was on the boarder about space exploration but this is an excellent work on ‘why Mars’.
However, it’s also a little out dated. If you want a more recent work look at The Case For Space also by Robert Zubrin. But even that excellent book is aging fast with all the recent developments in space travel. I think this book is most relevant now as it was one of the things that convince Elon Musk to start SpaceX. Also it’s an excellent argument as to why Mars should be first on the colonization list as opposed to the moon or cislunar space.
Now for the gripes. (Sigh) I really wish engineers, rocket scientists, and astrophysicists (oh my!) would stay away from astrobiology. They are interested in it as it is relevant to the prevalence and nature of life in the universe in general and in general they tend to have a decent understanding of biology. But they don’t have a complete understanding of the more advanced and less intuitive principles such as the law of minimum complexity (which is why we don’t see pre-protozoan bacteria floating around) or the energy dynamics of organisms. And because, frankly, they see biology as a “lesser science” they think that they can make all kinds of assertions about this and that. This, in my eyes, degrades Robert Zubrin’s authority on other subjects as it makes me wonder what other important points he’s missing.

A lot of weird diversions

It's a good book filled with great information, but you've gotta work your way through a lot of tangents about internal NASA politics to get there. The book starts weak, but it's worth plodding through the first few chapters to get to the good stuff.

Outstanding treatise.

Gripping set of well thought out idea, history and projections. Truly inspiring in ways few other books in this domain are.

Great book!

I love when I get to pier into the mind of a person with true first order understanding of a topic. Sign me up for Mars! ....well after a few of the domes are built.... thank you for writing this book I thoroughly enjoyed it.

Boldly go

This was a really comprehensive book on the various ways we could get to and settle on mars. It’s a shame all our recent innovations and technology focus on self and looking down at our phones instead of looking up at the stars like we did as kids

What can I do to make this a reality?

Start by reading this book. the later chapters have pragmatic approaches that everyone can take, from the billionaire tycoon, to the political leader, right down to the guy who has an interest, but has yet to aquire the means.

Robert Zubrin has a simple approach to getting to Mars within 10 years of any start date. He has also done a great deal of research in living on Mars for both exploration and colonization.