 | |
| Author | Robert Zubrin Richard Wagner Arthur C. Clarke |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Non-fiction Science |
| Publisher | Touchstone |
Publication date
| 1996 |
| Pages | 368 |
| ISBN | 978-0684835501 |
| OCLC | 34906203 |
| 919.9/2304-dc20 | |
| LC Class | QB641.Z83 1996 |
The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must is a nonfiction science book by Robert Zubrin, first published in 1996, and revised and updated in 2011.
The book details Zubrin's Mars Direct plan to make the first human landing on Mars. The plan focuses on keeping costs down by making use of automated systems and available materials on Mars to manufacture the return journey's fuel in situ. The book also reveals possible Mars colony designs and weighs the prospects for a colony's material self-sufficiency and for the terraforming of Mars.
Mars Direct
The Mars Direct plan was originally detailed by Zubrin and David Baker in 1990. The Case for Mars
is, according to Zubrin, a comprehensive condensation for laymen of
many years' work and research. Chapters one and four deal with Mars
Direct most completely.
Colonization
For Robert Zubrin,
the attractiveness of Mars Direct does not rest on a single
cost-effective mission. He envisions a series of regular Martian
missions with the ultimate goal of colonization, which he details in the
seventh through ninth chapters. As initial explorers leave
hab-structures on the planet, subsequent missions become easier to
undertake.
Large subsurface, pressurized habitats would be the first step toward human settlement; the book suggests they can be built as Roman-style atria underground with easily produced Martian brick. During and after this initial phase of habitat construction, hard-plastic radiation- and abrasion-resistant geodesic
domes could be deployed on the surface for eventual habitation and crop
growth. Nascent industry would begin using indigenous resources: the
manufacture of plastics, ceramics and glass.
The larger work of terraforming requires an initial phase of global warming to release atmosphere from the regolith and to create a water cycle.
Three methods of global warming are described in the work and, Zubrin
suggests, are probably best deployed in tandem: orbital mirrors to heat
the surface; factories on the surface to pump halocarbons into the atmosphere; and the seeding of bacteria which can metabolize water, nitrogen and carbon to produce ammonia and methane (these would aid in global warming). While the work of warming Mars is on-going, true colonization can begin.
The Case for Mars acknowledges that any Martian colony
will be partially Earth-dependent for centuries. However, it suggests
that Mars may be a profitable place for two reasons. First, it may
contain concentrated supplies of metals of equal or greater value to silver
which have not been subjected to millennia of human scavenging and may
be sold on Earth for profit. Secondly, the concentration of deuterium – a possible fuel for commercial nuclear fusion
– is five times greater on Mars. Humans emigrating to Mars thus have an
assured industry and the planet will be a magnet for settlers as wage
costs will be high. The book asserts that “the labor shortage that will
prevail on Mars will drive Martian civilization toward both
technological and social advances.”
Wider considerations
While detailing the exploration and colonization, The Case for Mars also addresses a number of attendant scientific and political factors.
Risks confronted
The
fifth chapter analyzes various risks that putatively rule out a
long-term human presence on Mars. Zubrin dismisses the idea that
radiation and zero-gravity are unduly hazardous. He claims that cancer rates do
increase for astronauts who have spent extensive time in space, but
only marginally. Similarly, while zero-gravity presents challenges,
“near total recovery of musculature and immune system occurs after
reentry and reconditioning to a one-gravity environment.” Furthermore,
since his plan has the spacecraft spinning at the end of a long tether
to create artificial gravity, worries about zero gravity do not apply to
this mission in any case. Back-contamination – humans acquiring and spreading Martian viruses – is described as "just plain nuts", because there are no host organisms on Mars for disease organisms to have evolved.
In the same chapter, Zubrin decisively denounces and rejects suggestions that the Moon
should be used as waypoint to Mars or as a training area. It is
ultimately much easier to journey to Mars from low Earth orbit than from
the Moon and using the latter as a staging point is a pointless
diversion of resources. While the Moon may superficially appear a good
place to perfect Mars exploration and habitation techniques, the two
bodies are radically different. The Moon has no atmosphere, no analogous
geology and a much greater temperature range and rotational period. Antarctica or desert areas of Earth provide much better training grounds at lesser cost.
Viability
In the third and tenth chapters, The Case for Mars
addresses the politics and costs of the ideas described. The authors
argue that the colonization of Mars is a logical extension of the
settlement of North America. They envision a frontier society, providing opportunities for innovation and social experimentation.
Zubrin suggests three models to provide the will and capital to drive Mars exploration forward: the J.F.K. model, in which a far-sighted U.S. leader provides the funding and mobilizes national public opinion around the idea; the Sagan model, in which international co-operation is the driving force; and the Gingrich
approach, which emphasizes incentives and even prizes for private
sector actors who take on research and development tasks. In keeping
with the third idea, Zubrin describes twelve challenges that address
various aspects of the exploration program. A monetary prize – from five
hundred million to twenty billion dollars – is offered to companies who
successfully complete the challenges.
The prize-based approach to hardware development has emerged
within the private aeronautics community, though not yet on the scale
envisioned by Zubrin. Ventures such as the Ansari X-Prize and Robert Bigelow's America's Space Prize
seek low-cost spaceflight development through private enterprise, and
crucially, for the attainment of very specific predetermined goals in
order to win the prizes.
The underlying political and economic problems of raising
sufficient capital for terraforming using halocarbon emissions is
critiqued by John Hickman.
Translations
In 2017, a Russian translation of the book was published under the title of Курс на Марс (On Course for Mars) (ISBN 978-5-699-75295-9).
