Welcome to the Quilette Podcast. I'm your host Iona Italia, the managing editor at

Quilette. Quilette is where free thought lives. We are an independent grassroots platform for heterodox ideas and fearless

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I was especially excited about this week's episode.

Although I don't have a scientific background or expertise in astrophysics for any kind,

my imagination has always been captivated by the idea of space travel and exploration.

As little girl, I told my kindergarten teacher that I wanted to be an astronaut when I grew up.

As an adult, I'm an avid sci-fi fan and I have loved the visions of Mars Settlement outlined in such works as

Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars series and in the Apple TV series for all mankind.

My guest, Dr Robert Zubrin, has dedicated his life to work that will help those visions become reality.

Suburn is the president of the Mars Society and an experienced

astronomical engineer.

He founded Pioneer Astronautics and Aerospace Research and Development Company in 1996 and led it for 27 years,

overseeing over 70 projects for NASA, the US Air Force and the Department of Energy before selling it in

2023. Before starting his own company he was a senior engineer at Martin Marietta

and Lockheed Martin and worked on nuclear power plant safety, radiation protection and thermonuclear fusion research.

He is a fellow of the British Interplanetary Society, the former chairman of the Executive Committee of the National Space Society, and holds 20 patents.

He has authored more than 200 papers on space exploration technology and

and 12 books including The Case for Mars the Plan to settle the Red Planet and

Why We Must, which is now in its 25th anniversary edition.

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