Robert Zubrin, head of the Mars Society and of Pioneer Astronautics, discusses his new book, The Case for Space.

Zubrin discusses how he became interested in space, his vision for a spacefaring civilization within the next fifty years, his Mars Direct plan, and his views on why people should focus at least at the outset on settling planets and moons rather than O'Neill Colonies.

Zubrin also explains why humanity should head toward the stars to look for life, to probe the mysteries of the universe, to protect the Earth from asteroid impacts, to open a challenging new frontier, and to demonstrate conclusively that human beings thrive not by forcibly taking resources from others but by collaboratively creating new resources.