Dr. Robert Zubrin talks Mars - SpacePod 2010.06.08

[FractalBolt]

Ha ha, his latest book sounds like fun!

[sarenace]

I have spent the last few days looking into this since I accidentally ran across a link to a documentary. Sigh. Zubrin is a visionary who has missed the big picture. We didn't go to the moon to explore or expand civilisation, we went there to beat the russians. As exciting as it was, it was also completely frivolous. Mars is an even worse destination; there is no expedient political goal now, no cold war. Unless there is money to be made in going there, it wont, and shouldn't happen.

[FractalBolt]

@sarenace What if a robot sent to Mars finds oil? lol!

[sarenace]

@FractalBolt What if it did? Putting aside the fact that all known oil reserves are biological in origin, you would still have to transport the oil back here. You would generate the first billion dollar barrel of oil ever sold. Given the difficulties of interplanetary transport, any colony on mars would not be able to trade with earth until huge advances are made. As far as I'm concerned, that pretty much ends the whole idea. We cant even economically utilise all the habitats on earth!

[AgrivatedKillah]

This man is a hero.

[MrQueenie]

This guy is telling the god damn truth. We have the technology, yet we wait and waste our money on warfare when we could advance the human race for christs sake.

[AlphahawkA25]

the Mars Rising approach was like a mix breed of the Mars Direct plan and the 90-day report.

we can say one good thing about that report, and that is that not only can it get humans to mars, but it also can get humans to saturn, jupiter, out into space, and it also enlarges the international space station. so maybe when designing a mission to mars, you can also think ahead to the future, and design a system that can easily be modified to fit with other missions

[Andreas0Elf]

Well said.

[Benes911]

I think Dr Robert Zubrin comes across as a close contender to Christopher Hitchens' place as "person you'd most hate to argue with".

[JuggaloOzi]

This guy makes the human race look bad and it's a very good point.

[BlueBoyX4]

WHAT?!

We could already have settlements in Mars?!

*goes is a cussing spree*

[georgel19841]

this guy is crazy

[telum12]

@georgel19841

this guy was probably more brilliant then you were when you were 13 if you even are older then that.

If you are jelous of someone who is brilliant and this he's crazy just becouse he blinks or is not a great communicator like carl sagan then you are just an ignorant idiot and should go to church with the other idiots, there you might find other people against great minds.

[georgel19841]

@telum12 long reply for just 4 words ,you go in church and talk alone [pray]

ignorant idiot ?! you got it from just 4 words ,you must be .........

[georgel19841]

people still die .why didn't he kills himself

[Mandragara]

@georgel19841 Can you rephrase that question?

[georgel19841]

@Mandragara no

[Mandragara]

@georgel19841 Well then I cannot answer it for you!

[georgel19841]

@Mandragara can you see an''?'' ,there, ??? NO soo is that a question ? i repeat :NO

[Fetusmilkshake]

"All people die; that's our fate. The question is whether we accomplish anything while we are alive..

.. It is while we are alive that we have the chance to accomplish something of immortal importance, and if you don't attempt to do that, you are wasting your life."

Thank you, Dr. Zubrin. You said it best.

[mafiaslicka]

He made me think of minecraft

[hardcase34]

we should have reached mars ages ago y waist time building technology to go one planet while we should be building technology to take us one galaxy over

[tlages]

Nixon was an evil bastard. 

[greventlv]

Next to Ron Paul this guy is my hero

[ElectrumShiv]

@greventlv I'm just a mere scottish dude,but it baffles me why ron paul is not world renowned for his awesomeness.. just saying.

[camperkid]

If humans don't go to Mars before long I will be seriously disappointed in my species.

[retronostalgic]

This guy is a hero and has more guts and vision than the whole of Nasa....

[georgel19841]

0.29 mars is a moon ,in many ways then one ,betwen the moon and earth ,mars is more like the moon ,

soo i don't agree with the analogy

[PleasureTV]

Yeah we can't let people die on Mars, yet we can enjoy our dinnner while watching brains mixed with blood and intestines on CNN news.....

[volound]

WHY ARE WE STILL ON THIS MUNDANE PLANET????

(no pun intended)

(yes, that one)

[jam2220]

An amazing mind. What a person.

[1138thz]

As long as we're using chemical rockets Mars will not be explored or even visited by human beings. Two years in space on a mission to Mars will reduce the crew to cripples and cause a host of Zero G maladies. We need powerful high performance NUCLEAR engines to change the game. Sadly we almost had one in Project Orion. An NPPP ship could make it to Mars in a few weeks and carry with it hundreds of TONS of cargo and return with all of its systems intact and ready for refurbishment in LEO.

[JasonDamisch]

All People Die, that is our fate!

[Kilrogrum]

this man is amazing, i'm 13 right now, and i want to be alive when we make a base on mars...we obviously know we HAVE to get off this planet or we are doomed as a race, mars is a first step...why aren't we taking ONE STEP? after mars imagine... galaxies and more and more planets to live on...we CAN do this.

[g0tcadaver]

@Kilrogrum

Good to see such enthusiasm and care at such a young age.

[ACIMessentials]

send those who love war to mars. that will improve life on earth.

[91jgphonecall]

modern day explore

[culture101]

yes but saying that they could have been on mars by 1981 is a bit exagurated, they weren't that far, come on..

Even today the're not really ready, it still needs some decades of developments.

And the mars direct is really ridiculous, I mean, Would you want to stay there without ever coming back to earth ? We still don't know how hard and dangerous it is to live there. So starting with a oneway trip would be to decadent.

[srgerads]

@culture101

We had the technology in the late 60s and early 70s (Saturn V), but we let it wither away. NASA in 1969 had a plan for a first manned landing on Mars to take place in 1982. The NERVA nuclear rocket engine had been tested on the ground. We could have done it way back then but we lost the will.

AS for a one way trip to Mars: did you watch the video? The 1st Mars Direct vehicle to launch is called a "Earth Return Vehicle" for a reason.

[spacevidcast]

@srgerads We didn't necessarily lose the will. People lose interest in space quickly. The only time they cared about the Apollo flights was when something went wrong. There was no significant media coverage for Apollo 13, until the explosion. Cut to the next space program. People cheered for the new "space shuttle" design for the first couple missions, then didn't care until STS-51L (Challenger). Then Hubble, Columbia's loss, a lost tool bag, and the last Hubble Servicing mission.

[culture101]

@srgerads And you think the percentage of bringing people home alive and well, was so high.. so they could proceed ? I doubt it..

[LouistheHedgehog]

4:37

It would be hard for the first children on mars. Why is that?

"Mars ain't the kind of place to raise a kid.

In fact it's cold as hell.

And there'd be no one there to raise them, and if ya did..."

[Lucuskane]

Mars is the next step, that we literally, as a race refuse to make that step.

[lumaix]

build a statue of zubrin on mars

[Lucuskane]

@lumaix Potentially possible, if Earth-martians watch this in the "future".

[rbolo29]

Robert Zubrin is justified in being visible upset and shaken on the state of a manned mission space program. Unfortunately, people who want to go to Mars are at odds with powerful conservative republican christian groups who are in power and lobby our government not to spend money on manned Mars missions.

[CharmingLordSausage]

I can't help but thinking that childrens' lives would be so much more enhanced if they knew that they had a frontier to reach towards...but what do we have instead - a trillion dollars spent on wars to replace dictatorships with equally savage primitive theocracies...

[TheGreatCompassion]

Yes. YES.

[deepair007]

id rather die an explorer than die a boring death on earth

[KingWilliamMB]

Hes getting old .. it makes me cry that he could not get his goal done by now ...

I´m totaly behind him ... help the humans help life and bring us to mars ....

its always been my dream too ... i will do anything i can ...

[notbendable]

He's a smart dude (though he sounds like a lady).

He needs to stay off coast to coast. ;)

[ArcaneVoice]

@notbendable LOL, whut? I think it sounds more like Phil Collins' voice...

...well, anyway, loved your Mythbusters montages, specially those with Scottie!

[edshift]

1:30 into this video and I'm shouting at my monitor.

How many People die in wars?

Give an equal amount voluntarily in risk to the space program.

Explorers die. But at least their death is worthwhile. Current wars are not worthwhile except financially (for Haliburton etc.)

For fuck's sake let's get off planet.

We can do it so why are we not doing it.????

Human race right now = Epic Fail.

This guy talks so much sense.

[KingWilliamMB]

@edshift lets go and kick some fuckin governments asses ... i hate the politicians of the world right now .. soo stupid people ...

[edshift]

@KingWilliamMB Amen to that.

[KingWilliamMB]

@edshift thanks ... but with ouer ignorant governments , the humans will get no where ... i guess the government is there to serve the people .. but in my oppinion they lost theyre main reson 4 existence ... those governments are crap ... they lost they´re purpose ....

[SniperViper1000]

@edshift So if a man defends his natinos or other nations freedom with war (Because obviously Diplomacy doesn't work sometimes.) his death was not "worthwhile?" Nice dude, way to diss the soldiers who allowed you to type behind that very computer.

[edshift]

@SniperViper1000 They die for a reason on a closed system. Fighting over the last resources of a limted planet;

All it does is carve up what's left.

Not much.

No argument. He's brave but we need to think outside this earthly box.

Earth is a limited box.

There will be no more oil made on earth in our lifetime...

Let's go where there are resource.,..

State funded Mars shot. Right now.

[EdR8213]

@edshift Amen brother amen :)

[FreudianComplex]

@edshift I like your words and they are very true :)

[unholyimage]

@edshift Don't think there is any reason to scream. It is a good question that many people would ask. I think that Robert was probably glad it was asked, and he did an excellent job answering it.

[camperkid]

@edshift I second that! Especially considering it could be done within the current NASA budget!

[Eagle1Division2]

@edshift Our voluntary military kills murderers to save human lives...

[TemplarOfNight]

This guy is cool. He likes Mars.

[Negrodamus89]

He looks so angry, but a smart man.

[featheredmusic]

@Negrodamus89 lol, can u imagine how many times he faced rejection?

[psyclistic]

I think that question by the interviewer regarding space flight being too dangerous put Dr. Zubrin on edge a little bit.  His responses were very well crafted and delivered, however.

[stormsigma]

His clear passion for this subject is staggering. While I can understand both sides of this coin: the government doesn't have (or want to spend) the money it will take to send humans to Mars, I believe Dr. Zubrin is going to ultimately be right, in that we need to establish a colony to ensure the survival of our species in the event of some sort of earth cataclysm. Nukes, rogue astroids, etc. All could wipe out the planet and we need are going to need somewhere that Humanity can live on.

[davis3001]

PUT THIS MAN AT THE HEAD OF NASA !!! DR. ROBERT ZUBRIN IS AWSOME !!! MARS BY 2020 !!!

[Lucuskane]

@davis3001 Which would change our lives on this planet, people just don't see this.It is a great endeavor.

[1138thz]

@davis3001

Yes he is awesome. Unfortunately men of vision seldom are put in charge of anything...especially with this administration. We have a pair of ass kissing Obamites running NASA now (Charles F. Bolden & Lorie Garver). Expect no action in Space from NASA except retreat while the Obamazoid is on the throne.

[ohomen171]

THis man is an incredible visionary!

[NIK4EVA]

Nice interview. Dr. Zubrin is one of my favorite speakers when it comes to space talk. He is sometimes too excited about his ideas, but he sure is passionate. I wish we got someone in the white house that was 1% as passionate about space, then perhaps we would be going somewhere.

[psyclistic]

@NIK4EVA How about 1% as passionate about anything other than their own celebrity?

[NIK4EVA]

@psyclistic I do agree that he is preaching to the quire, but extraordinary results require extraordinary measures. We may not agree as to how he presents his case. Considering how long he has been pushing for this, he is just losing patience. 

[psyclistic]

@NIK4EVA I'm not quite sure which of my comments you're replying to. If it's the standalone one about him becoming on edge, I hold absolutely nothing against him for doing so. He has every right to lose patience. Our country has lost vision, and despite people blaming the current administration, I think their seeming lack of vision on this stuff is only a mirror of the populous's sentiment.

[NIK4EVA]

@psyclistic Agreed.

[Drvol1]

elon musk has a better chance of getting to mars than the US government does.

[LILWALSHY66]

how bout we just build a whole fucking earth space ship spend a shit load of money on it with other countries and go to light speed and go to the nearist plantet system!! ! its so easy just cost alot

[Lucuskane]

@LILWALSHY66 No one wants to that, they rather just watch weekly sport games and call it a life.