Reviewed by David Bullock
Last month, Robert Zubrin, president of the Mars Society and long-time author of all things Mars and space technology related, released his latest book, called The New World on Mars: What We Can Create on the Red Planet. Zubrin has the reader see plans for what could be colonization of a far, but beckoning world. The book was engaging, bringing in science and engineering, technological expansionist history, and a take on what could be the blunt realities of going to and living on Mars. While in his book, The Case for Mars, he wrote about why we need to go to Mars soon, and sooner than going to the Moon for example, his latest s more about what could happen if we as a species decide to go and have a presence there for good.
With SpaceX’s recent third test of its heavy lift vehicle made for interplanetary travel, Starship, it has looked like the chance that people will travel off the Earth in mass will be sooner than later. The timely writing of this book was markedly so, and while sometimes the read was complicated with science and engineering formulas, charts and graphs, and jargon, all the information was there and worth digesting completely, if you can.
With the idea of space exploration being so distant from the general public, I wonder just who Zubrin is writing to and if he could make the book even more absorbable to a larger audience. Clarity would be good for those interested in the topic, be they intrigued Earthlings or wanna-be Martians. Despite the book being hard to understand at times, it should be noted that since the beginning of the millennium, this is the only book of its kind. It stands completely against authors, Kelley and Zach Weinersmith’s book, A City on Mars, where they dismiss space travel pretty much entirely. Zubrin, in his book, brought up his own facts and bolstered the argument to go to Mars, but his book was also very inspira
Zubrin doesn’t dismiss the technical, social, environmental, biological, and ethical challenges to go to Mars, but ultimately has put forth that we will find a way. We must find a way. Not for techno-apocalyptic reasons, but just because there is a case that we can.
A press release for the book explained, “In The New World on Mars, Zubrin collects his theories and research to give context to what science and tech has already shown us is possible on the red planet. Privatized space flight has cut costs 5x less than before. Plants grown in greenhouses filled with Martian CO2 pressure can survive. Mars has water to extract which can support agriculture, manufacture concrete, and thus build structures. We can produce air, water, food, fuel, metals, plastics, and more to live in terraformed mega cities.”
Overall, the book was a very good read. The information that was given was complete and educational. If anyone wants to know how can we live on Mars and what we needs to be done to live there, Zubrin’s book is one to point that person in the right direction.
The New World on Mars is available now at booksellers, including Amazon and Barnes and Nobles, in hardcover, digital format and audio.