Robert Zubrin

Robert Zubrin is President of the Mars Society. Formerly the President of Pioneer Astronautics, an aerospace R&D company that he founded in 1996 and led for 27 years until selling it in 2023, he holds a Masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Washington. Zubrin is the author of 20 patents and over 200 published technical and non-technical papers in the field of space exploration and technology.

In addition to his many technical publications, Dr. Zubrin is the author of twelve books, including "The Case for Mars: How We Shall Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must," published by Simon and Schuster’s Free Press Division in Oct. 1996, “Entering Space: Creating a Spacefaring Civilization,” published by Tarcher Putnam in Aug. 1999, “Mars on Earth: Adventures of Space Pioneers in the High Arctic,” published by Tarcher Penguin in Sept. 2003, “Energy Victory: Winning the War on Terror,” published by Prometheus Books in November 2007, the humorous “How to Live on Mars: A Trusty Guidebook to Surving and Thriving on the Red Planet,” published by Random House in December 2008,“Merchants of Despair: Radical Environmentalists, Criminal Pseudoscientists, and the Fatal Cult of Antihumanism,” published by Encounter Books in 2012, “The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility,” published by Prometheus Books in 2019, and “The Case for Nukes: How to Beat Global Warming and Create a Free, Open, and Magnificant Future,” published by Polaris Books in 2023.

In his capacity of President of Pioneer Astronautics, Dr. Zubrin served as the Principal Investigator of over fifty research and development projects in areas including spacecraft and launch vehicle propulsion systems, Mars and Lunar in-situ resource utilization technology, EVA life support and propulsion, and robotic exploration systems. As leader of the Mars Society he led the construction of two Mars analog research stations – one in the Canadian high Arctic in 2000 and the other in the American desert in 2001 - and has overseen a program involving over 200 simulated Mars exploration missions at those stations during the period since. Prior to founding Pioneer Astronautics, he worked as a Senior Engineer at Lockheed Martin, in thermonuclear fusion research, nuclear power plant safety, and as a high school science teacher.