By Robert Zubrin, National Review, 08.31.19 On April 11, 2019, the Israeli SpaceIL company’s Beresheet (Hebrew for “In the Beginning”) lunar lander crashed on the Moon. Beresheet’s payload, supplied by the non-profit Arch Mission Foundation, was meant to be an informational backup for the Earth. It included a DVD containing 30 million pages of human knowledge, as well as 60,000 etched pages requiring no computer to read, keys to 5,000 languages, and DNA samples from 25 people. According to Arch Mission Foundation chairman… READ MORE >
Topic Area: Moon
Commentary by Dr. Robert Zubrin, Founder and President of the Mars Society Originally published in SpaceNews’ Apollo at 50 digital edition On July 20, 1989, the 20th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, President George H.W. Bush got up on the steps of the National Air and Space Museum flanked by Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Michael Collins and declared that in the tradition of their great feat, he was declaring that the United States would now set its… READ MORE >
At Today’s NASA, Success Is Not an Option By Robert Zubrin National Review, 06.12.19 The Trump administration has proposed a bold new initiative, dubbed the Artemis Program, that will send astronauts to the Moon by 2024 and Mars by 2033. As detailed by NASA administrator Jim Bridenstine in a presentation on May 23, the program will include some 37 launches by 2028, kicked off by the maiden launch of the agency’s new Space Launch System (SLS) heavy-lift booster in October 2020…. READ MORE >
By Robert Zubrin Space News, 04.17.19 NASA has proposed to build a lunar orbiting space station, called the lunar Gateway, to use as a base for lunar exploration. This plan is severely defective. The Gateway project may be compared to a deal in which you are offered a chance to rent an office in Thule, Greenland, on the following terms: 1. You pay to construct the building. 2. You accept a 30-year lease with high monthly rents and no exit clause…. READ MORE >
In response to U.S. Vice President Mike Pence’s NASA announcement in Huntsville, Alabama earlier today, Mars Society President Dr. Robert Zubrin commented: Vice President Pence’s declaration of intent to land Americans on the Moon by 2024 was a welcome statement of resolve, vitally necessary to give the nation a human space flight program that is actually going somewhere. His call to put the base at the lunar South Pole is also welcome since that is where ice reserves can be… READ MORE >
By Robert Zubrin & Homer Hickam The Washington Post, 12.10.18 Robert Zubrin is president of the Mars Society and Pioneer Astronautics and the author of “The Case for Mars.” Homer Hickam is a former NASA engineer and the author of multiple books, including the memoir “Rocket Boys,” which was made into the film “October Sky.” Late last year, President Trump directed NASA to “lead the return of humans to the moon.” For most folks, the meaning of this was pretty clear: Americans would soon walk on… READ MORE >
By Dr. Robert Zubrin, President, The Mars Society The American human spaceflight program, armed with a clear goal, stormed heaven in the 1960s. But for almost a half-century since, it has been adrift, spending vast sums of money with no serious objective beyond keeping various constituencies and vendors satisfied. If it is to accomplish anything, it needs a real goal. Ideally, that goal should be sending humans to Mars within a decade. But after all these years of stagnation and… READ MORE >
By Dr. Robert Zubrin The New Scientist, 08.29.18, Commentary US Vice President Mike Pence says a habitable base orbiting the moon will be built and in use by 2024. It’s a pointless distraction, warns Mars Society president Robert Zubrin Before last weekend’s Mars Society convention, a reporter asked me what I thought of the Trump administration’s plan to send astronauts to the moon. No doubt he expected me to explain why the Red Planet is a much more suitable goal, but I… READ MORE >
The Mars Society is pleased to announce that a formal debate on NASA’s proposed Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway, a human-tended facility in orbit around the Moon, will be held at the 21st Annual International Mars Society Convention on Thursday, August 23rd at 8:00 pm in the Pasadena Convention Center’s main ballroom. The discussion will involve the following proposition: “Resolved: The Lunar Orbital Platform-Gateway is the right next step for NASA’s human spaceflight program to take to support the human exploration and development of space.” Speaking… READ MORE >