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Paul interviews Robert Zubrin at the Lincoln Network’s “Reboot American Innovation” conference about the future of human spaceflight and the need for it to stay innovative.

Hosts
Paul Matzko
Tech & Innovation Editor
Guests

Robert Zubrin is President of Pioneer Astronautics, an aerospace R&D company located in Lakewood, Colorado. He is also the founder and President of the Mars Society, an international organization dedicated to furthering the exploration and settlement of Mars by both public and private means. Formerly a Staff Engineer at Lockheed Martin Astronautics in Denver, he holds a Masters degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Ph.D. in Nuclear Engineering from the University of Washington.

This week’s interview is with Robert Zubrin, astronautics engineer and President of the Mars Society, who also introduced Elon Musk to Jim Cantrell at the founding of SpaceX. Dr. Zubrin was in Washington, DC at the Lincoln Network’s “Reboot American Innovation” conference to contrast the successes of the private sector space industry over the past few years with the excess and stagnation of NASA’s human flight program over the past few decades. At the current rate of innovation, he believes that the first manned mission to Mars will happen in our lifetimes.

Should we settle Mars before we settle the moon? Are there regulatory restraints on the private space industry? Has our generation lost the drive to pursue the knowledge that made it possible for us to go to space? How do we inspire people to try something that has never been done before?

Further Reading: