AIAA Zoom Section Meeting Thursday, May 18, 2021 Dr. Robert Zubrin, AIAA Distinguished Lecturer Aerospace & Nuclear Engineer Mars Society Founder "Destination Mars: Human Mars Exploration & Colonization / Humans to the Red Planet within a Decade" RESERVATIONS REQUIRED RSVP BY May 17, 2021Please do not RSVP by replying to this thread. Please RSVP by emailing Dave Paris at davidsparis@twc.com or (516) 458-8593Location: Zoom Meeting onlineLink will be sent to those who registerTime: 6:40 PM Social Time7:00 PM PresentationCost: Free for EveryoneIn July 1989, on the 20th anniversary of the Apollo Moon landing, the first President Bush called for America torenew its pioneering push into space with the establishment of a permanent Lunar base and a series of humanmissions to Mars. While many have said that such an endeavor would be excessively costly and take manydecades, a small team at Martin Marietta drew up a daring plan that could sharply cut costs and send a group ofAmerican astronauts to the Red Planet within ten years. The plan, known as "Mars Direct," has attractedinternational attention and broad controversy, including coverage in such publications as Newsweek, Fortune, TheEconomist, Air and Space Smithsonian, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the London Times, theBoston Globe and Izvestia. It has also been covered by the Discovery Channel, PBS, ABC, NBC, CBS, NationalPublic Radio, and the BBC. Its principal author, Robert Zubrin, has presented it to such fora as the InternationalAstronautical Federation congress in Germany, and the blue ribbon "Synthesis Group" headed by former Apolloastronaut General Thomas Stafford, the Augustine Committee, as well as to various government officials,including House Speaker Newt Gingrich, Senator John McCain, and NASA Administrators Dan Goldin, MikeGriffin, and Charles Bolden.More relevant than ever: Can Americans reach the Red Planet in our time?Robert Zubrin, formerly a Staff Engineer at Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver is now president of his owncompany, Pioneer Astronautics. He holds Masters degrees in Nuclear Engineering and in Aeronautics andAstronautics and a doctorate in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Washington. He is the inventor ofseveral unique concepts for space propulsion and exploration, the author of over 200 published technical and non-technical papers in the field, as well the non-fiction books "The Case for Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planetand Why We Must" (Simon and Schuster 1996), "Entering Space" (Tarcher Putnam 1999), "Mars on Earth"(Tarcher Penguin 2003) and "Energy Victory" (Prometheus Books, 2007). He is also the author of the novels"The Holy Land," (Polaris Books, 2003) and "First Landing," (Ace 2001), and most recently, the science-humorimmigrant guidebook, "How to Live on Mars" (Three Rivers Press, 2008). He is a Fellow of the BritishInterplanetary Society and former Chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Space Society. Mostrecently, he founded the Mars Society, an international organization dedicated to furthering the exploration andsettlement of Mars by both public and private means. In that capacity, he personally led the construction andoperation of a human Mars exploration training station on Devon Island, an uninhabited island in the CanadianArctic 900 miles from the North Pole. Prior to his work in astronautics, Dr. Zubrin was employed in areas ofthermonuclear fusion research, nuclear engineering, radiation protection, and as a high school science teacher.Directions: Click on the link in the meeting invitation you will receive after signing up for the meeting.------------------------------
Gregory Homatas
Vice Chair AIAA Long Island Section
greghomatas@gmail.com------------------------------