In 2011, Nick Oberg stumbled upon the book ‘The Case for Mars’ by engineer and space evangelist Robert Zubrin. The book describes ‘an overly optimistic plan and mission architecture’, in Oberg’s words, for the exploration of the planet Mars. He recalls a feeling of almost religious fervour behind Zubrin’s arguments and remembers being infected by his enthusiasm. Around the same time, SpaceX founder Elon Musk’s statements on going to Mars made headlines. For the first time, someone seemed serious about bringing humans to the red planet.