Hey, weren't you supposed to be posting another timeline a year ago?
Though I do hope to get back to that (coming soon, Jane's All the World's Hunters of the French Civil War), this isn't related. It is six months old, though, so it doesn't make me look any better. :]
So what's all this then?
A Mars mission in the late 1970s with Apollo-derived technology.
Been there, read the book. Next?
I didn't say OTL Apollo-derived technology; besides, you need an awful lot of divergence for a Mars mission to be plausible. Oh, and we actually flew the thing.
Oh, so "I did it in Kerbal Space Program" is the new watchword for plausibility?
Rest assured all planets, masses, specific impulses, and dates are correct, and the astronaut models would be too if we had our way. We even model underexpansion of exhaust.
Ok fine. But what's with calling a slideshow a TLIAD?
Well, as I said above, even pulling out the stops a late-70s Mars mission isn't that plausible. Besides, we did actually make the thing in a day. A 40-hour day, but no sleep was involved!
And yet you're already past the 40 hour mark.
And that makes this different from other TLIADs?
Right. Well, let's get on with the giant rockets, then.
Music to my ears!
Author's Note:
I had meant to post this since the summer, but I had never quite gotten to it and now it's six months on. It was, however, done in a (40-hour) day. This is a short TL wrapped around a Mars mission that ferram4 and I created. Please ignore any green-skinnedness of the human beings; rest assured all planets, masses, specific impulses, and dates are correct, and the astronaut models would be too if we had our way.
I should NOTE: All these images are links, mostly to 2560x1600 originals (some are smaller, a few larger.)
Welcome to Ares III: Saturn VIII to Mars
Ares is a conjunction-class mission with moderately fast transits (250 days outbound, 220 inbound) and a long (460 day) stay on Mars. The following album recounts the history leading up to Ares III and the mission itself.
The Ares mission plan follows the final Mars plan proposed by Wernher Von Braun. Three stacks will rendezvous in Earth Orbit and will be injected together by their Saturn N nuclear thermal stages into a Trans-Mars trajectory. The three stacks will fly in convoy to Mars, aerobrake separately, and then reunite.
Ares III consists of five launches: three cargo atop Saturn VIII MLV, and two crew using the X-20X DynaSoar crew shuttle. The first launch of Ares III carries the (uncrewed) Flight and Return Vessel, consisting of the Flight Habitation Module, the Earth Return Vehicle (an Apollo-derived medium L/D capsule with capacity of 6), and the Service Module (tasked with Mars Orbit Insertion and Trans-Earth Injection). The second and third launches will loft Mars Surface Stacks, each consisting of a Mars Excursion Module and a Mars Habitat Module, again accompanied by Service Modules (although smaller ones since no TEI burn is needed). Once the three stacks are in orbit and check out, the crew will launch on two X-20Xs and rendezvous with and transfer to the FRV before departure. Once preparations are complete, the stacks will be injected into a Earth-Mars transfer orbit by the Saturn N upper stage still attached to each, and they will fly in convoy to Mars.
Though I do hope to get back to that (coming soon, Jane's All the World's Hunters of the French Civil War), this isn't related. It is six months old, though, so it doesn't make me look any better. :]
So what's all this then?
A Mars mission in the late 1970s with Apollo-derived technology.
Been there, read the book. Next?
I didn't say OTL Apollo-derived technology; besides, you need an awful lot of divergence for a Mars mission to be plausible. Oh, and we actually flew the thing.
Oh, so "I did it in Kerbal Space Program" is the new watchword for plausibility?
Rest assured all planets, masses, specific impulses, and dates are correct, and the astronaut models would be too if we had our way. We even model underexpansion of exhaust.
Ok fine. But what's with calling a slideshow a TLIAD?
Well, as I said above, even pulling out the stops a late-70s Mars mission isn't that plausible. Besides, we did actually make the thing in a day. A 40-hour day, but no sleep was involved!
And yet you're already past the 40 hour mark.
And that makes this different from other TLIADs?
Right. Well, let's get on with the giant rockets, then.
Music to my ears!
Author's Note:
I had meant to post this since the summer, but I had never quite gotten to it and now it's six months on. It was, however, done in a (40-hour) day. This is a short TL wrapped around a Mars mission that ferram4 and I created. Please ignore any green-skinnedness of the human beings; rest assured all planets, masses, specific impulses, and dates are correct, and the astronaut models would be too if we had our way.
I should NOTE: All these images are links, mostly to 2560x1600 originals (some are smaller, a few larger.)
Welcome to Ares III: Saturn VIII to Mars
Ares is a conjunction-class mission with moderately fast transits (250 days outbound, 220 inbound) and a long (460 day) stay on Mars. The following album recounts the history leading up to Ares III and the mission itself.
The Ares mission plan follows the final Mars plan proposed by Wernher Von Braun. Three stacks will rendezvous in Earth Orbit and will be injected together by their Saturn N nuclear thermal stages into a Trans-Mars trajectory. The three stacks will fly in convoy to Mars, aerobrake separately, and then reunite.
Ares III consists of five launches: three cargo atop Saturn VIII MLV, and two crew using the X-20X DynaSoar crew shuttle. The first launch of Ares III carries the (uncrewed) Flight and Return Vessel, consisting of the Flight Habitation Module, the Earth Return Vehicle (an Apollo-derived medium L/D capsule with capacity of 6), and the Service Module (tasked with Mars Orbit Insertion and Trans-Earth Injection). The second and third launches will loft Mars Surface Stacks, each consisting of a Mars Excursion Module and a Mars Habitat Module, again accompanied by Service Modules (although smaller ones since no TEI burn is needed). Once the three stacks are in orbit and check out, the crew will launch on two X-20Xs and rendezvous with and transfer to the FRV before departure. Once preparations are complete, the stacks will be injected into a Earth-Mars transfer orbit by the Saturn N upper stage still attached to each, and they will fly in convoy to Mars.
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