Robert Zubrin

Robert Zubrin "is the founder and President of the Mars Society, an international organization dedicated to furthering the exploration and settlement of Mars by both public and private means? He is also President of Pioneer Astronautics, an aerospace R&D company located in Lakewood, Colorado. Formerly a Staff Engineer at Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver, he holds a Masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Washington. Zubrin is the inventor of several unique concepts for space propulsion and exploration, the author of over 200 published technical and non-technical papers in the field, and was a member of Lockheed Martin's scenario development team charged with developing broad new strategies for space exploration. In that capacity, he was responsible for developing the Mars Direct mission plan, a strategy which by using Martian resources, allows a human Mars exploration program to be conducted at a cost 1/8th that previously estimated by NASA. Zubrin is known internationally as one of the most creative engineers working in the aerospace industry today, and he and his work have been subject of much favorable press coverage in The Economist, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the London Times, The Washington Post, Fortune Magazine, Newsweek, Air and Space Smithsonian, Popular Science, Omni, Space News, and many other publications. He is the holder of two US Patents, and has two more pending."

• Director, Council For The Future
• Contributing editor, The New Atlantis