Leading space exploration authority Robert Zubrin has crafted a daring new blueprint, Mars Direct, that experts are hailing as the most visionary and pragmatic step toward expanding human activity in space since the Apollo Moon landings. Presented here with illustrations, photographs, and engaging anecdotes, Dr. Zubrin's plan will revive our hopes and dreams and convince us that other worlds can be reached - affordably and within our lifetime. Unlike the dead world of the Moon, the Martian landscape abounds with ancient canyons, dried river beds, the remains of frozen polar oceans, and enormous ice caps. The possibilities for exploration and discovery are nearly limitless; but significant exploration of Mars can only occur on her surface, and in order to do that we must be able to survive there. In the great tradition of human exploration, Dr. Zubrin's plan calls for a travel-light and live-off-the-land approach. He explains step-by-step how we can use present-day technology to send humans to Mars within ten years; actually produce fuel and oxygen on the planet's surface with Martian natural resources; how we can build bases and settlements; and how we can one day "terraform" Mars - a process that can alter the atmosphere of planets and pave the way for sustainable life. Under Dr. Zubrin's program, a human mission is only the first step toward a day when research bases and eventual colonies can be developed on Mars' surface. Mars possesses enormous chemical and mineral resources, all of which can be put to use in pursuit of travel, exploration, structures, and a variety of human activities on a planet that is neither as harsh nor as unreachable as we popularly believe. The Case For Mars is not a vision for the far future or one that will cost us impossible billions. It is a plan that can be put into action today if we are willing to rethink our traditional methods and costs. Zubrin maps out how the use of Martian resources, innovations, streamlined approaches, and a series of manageable government grants coupled with the efforts of private enterprise can make repeated humans-to-Mars missions possible. "For our generation and many that will follow, Mars is the New World," writes Zubrin. This book went to press serendipitously, just as NASA was making its startling if heavily-qualified announcement that simple life may have once existed on the fourth rock from the sun. Zubrin doesn't spend an enormous amount of time arguing why Mars exploration is desirable -- we all want astronauts to go there, don't we? -- but rather devotes the bulk of this book explaining how it can happen on a sensible, bare-bones budget of $20-30 billion and a "travel light and live off the land" philosophy. Zubrin, a senior engineer with Martin Marietta, and science writer Wagner (Inside Compuserve, New Riders, 1995), here present the case for Zubrin's Mars Direct plan for sending manned missions to the Red Planet in the near future. Zubrin proposes to lower dramatically the lift-off weight, and thus the cost, of manned Mars missions by using off-the-shelf hardware whenever possible but especially through a conceptual breakthrough that centers on using in situ Martian resources to manufacture the rocket fuel needed for the return journey. This would eliminate the requirement of hauling the total fuel load from Earth, thereby reducing the cost NASA's "business as usual" approach of $450 billion to $50 billion. It's a visionary proposal, but Zubrin makes a convincing case, arguing that eventually humankind will terraform Mars to make its climate more earthlike for future generations of colonists. The recent discovery of possible ancient Martian microbe fossils, plus the launch of the unmanned Mars Surveyor mission this fall, will likely create demand for this title. Recommended for academic and public libraries.?Thomas J. Frieling, Bainbridge Coll., Ga. Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. When ex-president Bush proclaimed crewed missions to Mars as NASA's next goal, his vision thing went out of focus because of a $450 billion price tag. But according to aerospace engineer Zubrin, America needn't spend a tenth of its GNP to get there; $40 billion will suffice. His Mars Direct proposal economizes by bypassing the space station boondoggle and sending straight to Mars spacecraft that can make their own rocket fuel right there, out of the carbon dioxide atmosphere. That simple concept, based on 1890s chemical technology, unlocks a breathtaking vista sure to dazzle any space enthusiast. Zubrin begins with the design of the spacecraft and the possible profiles for the mission, then proposes strengthening the initial base by mining water and building brick houses; eventually, Mars might be terraformed by evaporating its southern ice cap. An articulate expositor of achievable futurism, Zubrin strives marvelously to ignite interest in the exploration of Mars, interest certain to increase when the next spacecraft to Mars is launched in u