Mars Is Within Reach Robert Zubrin Summary

Traveling to Mars has been in the minds of the American people since the Apollo moon missions of the 1970s. It seemed as if the natural progression of the space program would be to explore Mars next, or at the bare minimum, continue exploration of the moon. However, space exploration has seemingly ground to a halt. Aerospace engineer and author, Robert Zubrin is an acclaimed professional in the concept of sending humans to Mars. He is a strong advocate of reinvigorating human space exploration and establishing a colony on the red planet to expand human influence into the solar system. In his article “Mars Is within Reach”, he disputes certain claims proposed by Charles Wohlforth and Amanda Hendrix that interplanetary travel is harmful to humans

Particularly, Zubrin attains rhetorical success through techniques of logical argument and empathetic appeal.

When describing how space radiation affects astronauts that would be traveling to Mars, the article by Wohlforth and Hendrix claims that human biology is not able to handle the heavy doses of radiation astronauts would be exposed to. Zubrin points out that this assumption is based on a study conducted by the University of California Irvine on radiation doses distributed to laboratory mice. Wohlforth and Hendrix’s article fails to mention that, “the mice in question received their dose at about 40,000 times the rate it would be experienced by astronauts on a journey to Mars.” As an interplanetary travel expert, Zubrin argues that these doses are highly inaccurate compared to what the astronauts would be exposed to. He emphasizes this point with a reference to toxicology and how something such as wine is similarly lethal in

He begins his empathetic argument by stating how “engineering is the art of making the impossible possible”. He then refers to those who spend their time trying to make the possible seem impossible as defeatists. Zubrin seeks to prove to skeptics that traveling to Mars is a defeatist attitude that only constrains our horizons. Clearly Zubrin is in favor of sending people to Mars because that is what he has devoted his life’s work to. However, he makes an interesting appeal to the reader that shows how not going to Mars is similar to accepting defeat. He then builds on this idea in the following paragraph. He mentions inspirational ideas that could come about as a result of exploring Mars such as learning about the diversity of life, challenging our youth, and opening up a frontier that would offer “unlimited future for humanity”. It is clear that these are loaded ideas strung together with powerful words but the points he makes are deliberate. He appeals to multiple groups in society, yet makes all the ideas relatable and appear beneficial to everyone. Here, Zubrin is most successful at connecting on a personal level with the skeptics, because these benefits briefly cloud the challenges and skepticism of reaching Mars, and opens the readers mind to thinking positively. Zubrin closes his empathetic argument by criticizing his critical