Posted by tourdemars to Airplane at August 1, 2005 10:59 AM

Imagine a rocket plane that can sail for dozens of miles over the Martian terrain, set itself down, send out a robotic explorer for a month or so, then take off for the next destination. It may sound like pure science fiction — but for Robert Zubrin, rocket scientist and Mars mission architect, there's nary a shred of make-believe to the idea. In fact, he and his colleagues at Colorado-based Pioneer Astronautics have just finished up a NASA-funded project to develop an earthly prototype for such a plane, called "Mars Ship 1."