Oh Man... here's a hilarious link

I know, it's kind of like bragging about how great I am...but not... Martha over at UT Planetary Science Blog (a blog I'm a part of) had a hilarious post that you might want to check out

Zubrin apparently does economical energy talks

While he has his Bachelor's in mathematics and his Ph.D. in aeronautical engineering, he seems to also give talks on the economics of energy and oil dominance and why we must move away from oil.

Let it be said on the record that I don't like oil dependence and I am also a card carrying member of The Mars Society (where Zubrin is currently president), I am not below scrutinizing it for vested interest.

I haven't finished watching the video yet, but around 40 minutes he starts talking about methanol fueled engines for cars. GREAT! Right? I think so...whether or not it is however is beyond the scope of this blog. What is within the scope of this blog is whether or not it is a vested interest of his.

In his book, "The Case for Mars..." he describes the fuel needed as a methane oxygen fuel for the ship they could generate with his - albeit previously available before him - technology on Mars. I'm no chemist so I could be wrong about this, but is it possible that here a doubly vested interest is getting America non-oil dependent and also having technological research improved in the use of methane/methanol in combustion engines? Which, might I add is his solution to roving on Mars as well...


image courtesy of Marshome.org

Zubrin's Space Week Video on YouTube playlist

So I've found the playlist video of Mars Underground (2007), a documentary about the Mars Direct plan. This should help out a lot in convincing you of what is good about the plan.


http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=60733B58C602DBD3

(It's an over an hour long in 5 parts)

Whilest the book describes this in detail and its process of conception, Zubrin goes on to describe what may kill NASA or a Mars mission as bureaucratic BS that disables the mission because it is trying to entertain everyone's developing technology and give money out. So, basically he says the reason we aren't getting to Mars is because everyone wants a piece of the pie and wants their technology to be mission critical - stuff that has been in development for years. They also don't want their missions scrapped.

So, the obvious question is: What does Zubrin have as a vested interest in Mars Direct?

He worked for Martin-Marietta, the people who composed this plan (they compose plans and do other consulting bits to NASA for money).

Does he have a vested interest in a technology required for Mars? Or is he genuinely interested in getting a Mars mission off the ground out of the goodness of his heart?

What's the deal here

Hi Everyone,

This is our first post on Mars Critical. It is beginning as a side project that spurred as I became more interested in the Mars Direct plan proposed by Dr. Robert Zubrin. For one, I believe this is a great program/mission that could really get us there. But rather than follow him blindly and root for the "good guys" or the "under dog", I decided that critically evaluating it was the best course of action. My fellow geoscientists are divided on the idea of manned Mars missions (many of the detractors are people whom I greatly respect).

Therefore, I decided to catalog my investigation into Mars Direct with this blog.

It begins with this: a book by Dr. Robert Zubrin - "The Case For Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must" which I encountered as I researched the plan from this segment the IEEE did on Why or Why Not Mars.


Care to catch up with me and evaluate what's up?

image courtesy of http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Zubrin