University of Washington-trained nuclear engineer Robert Zubrin. He is the spiritual father of the dream of sending humans to Mars the way the late astronomer Carl Sagan was the Mr. Rogers of the cosmic neighborhood.
Zubrin, 51, a former junior high and high school science teacher in Brooklyn, got a master's degree in aeronautics and a doctorate in nuclear engineering from the UW in 1992. Known as a smart, visionary -- if sometimes aggravating -- scientist, he is also the chief and self-appointed spokesman for the possibility of colonizing Mars.
The moon had John F. Kennedy. Mars has Zubrin.
Why the Red Planet?
"Mars is the planet that has the resources to support life," he said.
It's a place of harsh magnificence, with salmon-tinged skies, and a "Mariner Canyon" that makes our Grand Canyon look like a trickle. It's home to the highest volcano in the solar system, Olympus Mons, a structure five times higher than Mount Everest, and its subsurface glaciers hold the tantalizing promise of the possibility of life.
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/136004_mars21.html
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