space age

In 1945 as the war in Europe came to a close the allies scrambled to acquire German technology and scientists. In particular the V2 Rocket was highly sought after with the various allied nations almost racing against each other to recover as many rockets and technical staff as possible before...

I am going to tag @CountofDooku because he is the first I have seen which is doing a USSR timeline, @nixonshead @TimothyC @SingularityG3 @Tshhmon @Juumanistra since you have timelines regarding space. I was thinking of what would need for the Soviets to reach the moon between those dates, not...

What if the Space Race never ended? What if the Space Race continued? What if NASA didn't land a man on the Moon first? What if Soviet Russia did? What if Sergei Korolev never died, causing Russia to land on the Moon, which in turn causes the United States to try and out compete Russia, in turn...

First to set up the players. French Empire- After a more successful OTL campaign Napoleon I rules victoriously over Europe in 1814. The empire transitions into a constitutional monarchy around the mid-19th century and maintains a decent hold over western and central Europe up to the the 1950's...

Ok, so some fact checking before posting a new space program what if/AHC. I would like to know some basic scientific stuff, like: 1) Getting to a stable (low) Earth Orbit, what does this cost in energy expenditure/ton? 2) How does this compare to other than (Low) Earth Orbits? 3) Should...

Welcome, everyone, to Glorious Dawn! This is an Alternate Spaceflight Timeline which should hopefully be factoring in the political landscape of the respective times, To keep everything as accurate as possible. If you see any historical inaccuracies don't be afraid to let me know, I'll try to...

Had the interest in the Space Race not diminished after the Moon Landing in 1969, and investment at Nasa continued at similar rates as before, could there have been a Mars Landing in the 20th Century? If so, when? Could the US have pushed for it in the 80s? Is there even a possibility of it...

“Today is a great day for the Soviet people. The Reaction-Engine Research Center will be instrumental in our great effort to find ever more efficient and faster methods of transportation. To find methods so that we may one day, be among the stars as well. It will be a long time before that is...

Post 0: Introduction Reading about the history of spaceflight, Gemini stands out as an odd duck. It is a program which post-dates the approval of Apollo as a three-person capsule, and was initially supposed to be a minor upgrade to Mercury. Even the addition of a second seat was something its...

Welcome to LEVIATHAN Rising, a Turtledove-nominated timeline about the rather novel premise of the United States Navy being the agency at the heart of the American space program. Or my preferred alternative title: Admiral Heinlein Conquers Space With Mythological Cryptozoology and the Bestest*...

Path to the Stars Part 1 Ever since both the Soviet Union and the US had set the goal to launch a satellite in the 1957-1958 International Geophysical Year, the countries had been putting money and effort into that goal. The USA left the goal to the Navy and the Army, Whilst the Soviet Union...

Space. The final frontier. If humans are anything, they're curious. Curiosity kills a lot of cats, but the ones who get out unscathed go on to do great things. In the 1950s and 1960s, due to the Red Scare and the Cold War, the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist...

Wrong forum, my bad.

What divergences from OTL would a TL require in which the public viewpoint and government policy of science and technology around the world remains like in OTL 1945 to roughly 1975±5 years. For example: -Western countries and former (or current) East Bloc countries retain a "Nuclear optimist...

Here is something from October 2016: As you can guess Mr. Degtyarev statement was met with much jokes on the Eastern European side of the internet. At the same time, it isn’t as silly as it first appears as Ukraine does have a space-rocket industry (albeit one that OTL builds light/medium...

Exactly what it says on the tin. Can a BIS Moonship conduct a manned Lunar landing before July 20th, 1969? Personally I think it’s possible, but then I am a member of BIS, so I may be a bit biased. For those of you who don’t know exactly what I’m talking about, here are some articles about the...

Rockwell Flyer: The Story of the X-33 and Beyond American Rocket News January 2, 2006 Written by Arnold Holmes With the start of Congressional hearings on the factors relating to the decisions involved in the Exploration Systems Architecture, we here at American Rocket News feel it is...

Good evening, everyone! I know it's been a little while since @Polish Eagle and I finished writing Right Side Up (and we're both pleased to thank everyone who offered their votes at the Turtledoves this year). That said, I'm proud to present the following, which is something of a spiritual...

With the current political situation, launching nuclear reactors to orbit is nearly impossible. What is commonly overlooked, is what at least 15 RORSAT reactor cores (each filled with 30kg 90% enriched uranium) are already orbiting graveyard orbit 900-1000 kilometers high, at 65 degrees...

Suppose that Alan Shepard became the first man in space in March 24th of 1961 but Yuri Gagarin overshadows him by being the first to go into orbit on April 12nd. Would the nicknames like "Columbus of the Cosmos" or "Columbus of the space age" still goes to Gagarin, or would he received other...