Media Contacts:
Mick Kulikowski, News Services, 919/515-3470

Oct. 24, 2002

Zubrin Visits NC State to Make the Case for Mars Exploration

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

What would life on Mars be like? Can Mars provide any insight into life on Earth? A guest lecturer at North Carolina State University will give his opinions on these and other questions about the red planet.

Dr. Robert Zubrin will make his case for Mars exploration from 2:45 to 4 p.m. on both Monday, Oct. 28, and Tuesday, Oct. 29, in the Campus Cinema of the Witherspoon Student Center on NC State's campus as part of the Fall 2002 Scholars Forum Lectures Series. He will also speak at 7:30 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 28, in the McKimmon Center at an event hosted by the N.C. Space Grant Consortium.

All lectures are free and open to the public. Media coverage is welcomed.

Zubrin is the president and founder of Pioneer Astronautics, a research and development company committed to promoting space travel technologies. He is also the president and founder of The International Mars Society, an organization dedicated to the exploration and settlement of Mars.

In addition to his many technical publications, Zubrin is the author of the widely acclaimed "The Case For Mars: The Plan to Settle the Red Planet and Why We Must" and "Entering Space: Creating a Space Faring Civilization and First Landing."

Zubrin feels that studying Mars will allow us to learn more about Earth, gaining knowledge that would help us solve our planet's ecological problems. And, as land on earth becomes scarce, he believes that settling Mars is well within our reach.

In fact, Zubrin believes so strongly in his cause that he is asking Congress to set aside 1 percent of NASA's budget - $140 million per year - to support technology development that will enable humans to explore Mars.

- johnson -