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According to the National Space Society's magazine Ad Astra, a terrorist group called Black September planned a strike against the crew of Apollo 17. Let's say they succeeded. Given their record of hijacking aircraft, let's say the pull off a 9/11-style strike with a hijacked airliner that...

During reentry of Space Shuttle Columbia after her first flight (the first flight of the Space Shuttle Program), hot gas gets ducted into the right main landing gear well. The damage is far greater than it was IOTL, and Shuttle Columbia is lost during reentry. John Young and Robert Crippen are...

Is it possible for American forces to withdraw from Vietnam in or before 1963 as the Kennedy Administration becomes more and more aware of how corrupt, inefficient, and unpopular the South Vietnamese regime really is? If so, what effect would this have on US politics and the decade at large?

"Although Dmitri's unconventional ways and toleration of Catholics and Protestants bothered some, for almost a year he remained a popular tsar who pursued enlightened policies. He made, however two crucial errors. The first was neglecting to eliminate permanently the intrigues against him of...

During the last few days of WWII, the invasion plans for Japan were re-drawn to include 12 or so atomic bombs dropped to soften up the defenses. Macarthur wanted to use them against China in the Korean War. Several USAF officers requested permission to drop three atomic bombs on North...

In 1632, Jeremy Wisniowiecki converted from the Orthodox faith to Roman Catholicism. In the words of Polish historian Pawel Jasienica, this was a painful loss for the Ukrainian cause, as Wisniowiecki was the last of the great Ruthenian lords to actually live in Ruthenia. Same source...

Is it possible for Britain and France to squeeze Heligoland out of Germany with the Treaty of Versailles after WWI? The island is rather well-placed as a naval base for operations against Germany, and was technically British until 1890. So, if at the end of WWI, this island were returned to...

The challenge is, with a POD anywhere after 1600, sustain dueling as a way to settle problems to the modern day. Make it socially acceptable to kill someone, so long as it's done for an acceptable reason, under a dueling code, on a field of honor, etc., if they offend you. Make it so that...

Is it possible to get the Latin alphabet to become dominant in Greece, Asia Minor, and the Balkans, and then eventually Ukraine and Russia? If so, what would be the cultural effects of the replacement of Greek and the lack of Cyrillic in this world? A Europe, including the Byzantines and...

The Germans bombed London a few times in 1917 by aeroplane. Let us say that one of them, during a night raid in June, 1917, manages to strike Buckingham Palace, killing King George V. What effect does this have on the war? Does it significantly alter the course, or merely get Germany punished...

Could the Empire of Japan have grabbed the Philippines and Guam from Spain and annexed Hawaii during the late 19th century (say, 1880s)? If so, what would the effects be?

Is there a way to have George Washington accept the title of King of the US, but for all succeeding kings to be elected by popular vote? So one would be a President-for-Life, but with a crown and royal titles, if elected. And if it could come to pass, what would the results be?

Inspired by a thread on DtF and a thread months ago on a more realistic Peshawar Lancers, let's try and make DtF more realistic. Keeping with the basic rules (no "fast" chemical reactions, no steam or internal combustion engines, no electricity), how can we make the effects of this change more...

Due to technical difficulties with the Vostok capsule (say, repeated parachute failures?), the Soviet program falls behind by at least a month. On May 2, 1961 (the original planned date for Shepard's flight, scrubbed IOTL due to weather, assume it goes as planned TTL), Alan Shepard becomes the...

The POD is that in 1977, Morton Thiokol identifies the problems with SRB O-rings that led to the Challenger Disaster and fixes it, or sends NASA a strong warning not to fly in temperatures below, say, 45*F. NASA heeds this warning (or the SRBs are fixed) and thus the space shuttle Challenger is...

How soon can an internal combustion engine be built, assuming a POD of no earlier than 1000 AD? Was metallurgy of the Renaissance up to the task? Could petroleum be refined, or ethanol processed significantly before it was IOTL, and preferably before 1700? Or can we go with a...

I just read this anthology of AH essays (edited by Robert Cowley), borrowed from my school library, and I must say it was impressive for the most part. Parts of it were a bit too optimistic (Increased U-boats in WWI leads to Kaiser Wilhelm getting ousted while on the verge of victory? Averted...

Jozef Pilsudski never develops cancer of the liver, or other life-threatening diseases, until 1947. Until that date, he does not die of natural causes (bomb, gunshot, knife, will still kill him). How does he handle Polish affairs until and during the second world war?

Say that, during the negotiations of the Treaty of Paris, the British decide that they'd have more to gain by grabbing the French sugar-making islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Saint Lucia, Gorée, and France's remaining Indian factories, than they would gain from annexing Quebec and Canada...

How can we have the House of Hapsburg, after 1573, gain the Polish throne at least 3 times and what would the effects of the Hapsburgs holding the throne of Poland-Lithuania be? And the combined length of the Hapsburg dynasty in Poland should be at least 20 years.