Robert Zubrin is President of Pioneer Astronautics, an aerospace R&D company located in Lakewood, Colorado. He is also 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. 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.. 

Dr. Zubrin is viewed as a respected author and a renown expert on Mars, Dr. Zubrin has testified in recent years before several government committees and in 2009 spoke in front of the Augustine Commission on the subject of the future of America's human space flight program.

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, Space News, and many other publications, and he has appreared on Discovery Channel, CNN, NPR, and the BBC.

Since founding Pioneer Astronautics in January 1996, Dr. Zubrin has served as the Principal Investigator of numerous research and development efforts 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.

"Mars is the new world. Its settlement presents the challenge that will determine whether we remain confined to Earth, or can become a multiplanet spacefaring species, with a future made unbounded by our courage and creativity."

Last and not least, Zubrin is a student of history and moral philosophy. He understands the broader ideological and political context in which our expansion into the solar system must occur.

Zubrin understands that going to space is not just desirable, it is necessary to the survival of the ideals of liberty that established our nation. He writes, “Without a frontier from which to breathe life, the spirit that gave rise to the progressive humanistic culture that America has offered to the world for the past several centuries is fading.”

The alternative to space is cultural homogenization, stagnation and authoritarian control over dwindling limited resources.

Those of us deeply embedded in the space community understand that space development is the Rx for a dismal Malthusian future and Dr. Zubrin makes our case better than anyone has to date.

But if no one tries, no one will succeed. I'm proud to do what I can to help."