Apollo program encore (version 2.0)

Archibald

Banned
APOLLO PROGRAM ENCORE

Prologue

USS Pompon had departed Brisbane on 12 September for the second patrol - en route to her area in the South china Sea north of singapore.

"Hey Thomas. How do you feel ?" George Washington grinned at the young officer. To think their cook was named Ben Franklin !

"We may have some training before hitting the japs hard. Looks there's a Liberty ship hanging around... perfect target."
"Indeed, but.." Paine never termined its sentence. Another officer come shouting "friendly fire ! we are under attack by our fellow !"

The last thing Thomas O. Paine heard was a huge bang, and cascading water turned their Gato class submarine into hell.

No-one escaped alive.


1968

December

William Anders
"We are now approaching lunar sunrise and, for all the people back on Earth, the crew of Apollo 8 has a message that we would like to send to you.
In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.
And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep.
And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters. And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.
And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness.

Jim Lovell
"And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.
And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.
And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so.
And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

Frank Borman

"And God said, Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so.
And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called he Seas: and God saw that it was good.
And from the crew of Apollo 8, we close with good night, good luck, a Merry Christmas – and God bless all of you, all of you on the good Earth."

George Wilhem Low was living a dream. It was really its career highlight - and he had been key in the decision process leading this three man orbiting the Moon, not Earth.
 

Archibald

Banned
THE CLOCK marked 8:45 in the morning in Houston, Texas, when Manager of the Apollo Spacecraft Program Office George Low met Bob Gilruth. The day was August 9, 1968 - probably one of the busiest day in Low's life.

At 9: 00, Low and Gilruth met with Chris Kraft.

And Low dropped the bombshell.

"Apollo 6 pogo problems have been solved”. Low referred to the second flight of the giant Saturn V rocket, which had been plagued by destructive vibrations – pogo - on April 4.
“CSM-103 is a very mature spacecraft. Gentleman, we should turn Apollo 8 into a lunar orbit mission. It’s now or never."
Gilruth was highly enthusiastic. So was Kraft.
"George, the mission is technically feasible from ground control and spacecraft computer standpoint. I'm with you." The three men started to pull strings across NASA and the United States.

At 9:30 a.m. Low, Gilruth and Kraft met astronauts boss Donald “Deke” Slayton, and they unanimously decided to seek support from Wernher von Braun and Apollo Program Director Samuel Phillips. Gilruth called von Braun and, after briefly outlining the plan, asked if they could meet in Huntsville, Alabama, that afternoon. Low called Phillips, who was at the Kennedy Spaceflight Center, Florida, and asked whether he and KSC Director Kurt Debus could participate.
The meeting was set up for 2:30.

Five hours later, Low entered Marshall Spaceflight Center auditorium. Key people in the Apollo program were all there. They were Werner Von Braun, Eberhard Rees, Lee James, Ludie Richard, Phillips and George Hage, Kurt Debus and Rocco Petrone, Gilruth, Kraft, Slayton - for seven years these men had devoted their lives to Kennedy great endeavour, landing a man on the Moon before the decade was out.

"Yes, we can fly a lunar orbit mission in six months. The hardware is ready. This is technically feasible if Apollo 7 proves successful. If not, well, Apollo 8 will simply orbit Earth as planned. Chris ?"
"I'm with George. Let me insist on the fact that we have to orbit the moon, not simply flyby it. This way we strengthen the case for a lunar Apollo 8; the crew will snap pictures of future landing sites for a day. Sam, a word about Kennedy Space Center ?"
"I'm go. I can't see any obstacle to launch before December 1"
Neither Marshall engineers found any difficulties. Gi:ruth just said " I'm go, to. We only need to look at the differences between spacecraft 103 and 106 and find a substitute for the LM."
"Okay, thank you all. We are technically go. Now we need to convince top management. You know that Mueller and Webb attend the UNISPACE conference in Vienna. I suggest we meet in Washington next week - August 14. This will be decision day. Sam ?"
Phillips continued "Well, if we agree this day I will then go to Vienna and discuss the plan with Mueller and Webb."
Low days was not over. He had another meeting later in the evening - to find a substitute to the lunar module and ensure North American Apollo moonship was ready.


London University College.

“I believe that the exploitation of space is limited in concept and extent by the very high cost of putting payload into orbit, and the inaccessibility of objects after they have been launched. Therefore, I would forecast that the next major thrust in space will be the development of an economical launch vehicle for shuttling between Earth and the installations, such as the orbiting space stations which will soon be operating in space […]

Essential to the continuous operation of the space station will be the capability to resupply expendables as well as to change and/or augment crews and laboratory equipment.... Our studies show that using today's hardware, the resupply cost for a year equals the original cost of the space station […]
…Therefore, there is a real requirement for an efficient earth-to-orbit transportation system-an economical space shuttle.... The shuttle ideally would be able to operate in a mode similar to that of large commercial air transports and be compatible with the environment of major airports.... The cockpit of the space shuttle would be similar to that of the large intercontinental jet aircraft, containing all instrumentation essential to complete on-board checkout.... Interestingly enough, the basic design described above for an economical space shuttle from earth to orbit could also be applied to terrestrial point-to-point transport […]

The Space Shuttle is another step toward our destiny, another hand-hold on our future. We will go where we choose-on our earth-throughout our solar system and through our galaxy-eventually to live on other worlds of our universe. Man will never be satisfied with less than that"

(George E. Mueller to the British Interplanetary Society, London, August 10 1968)


August 14
Washington

“I can’t accept your idea. Apollo 7 has yet to fly, in October. Don’t come to Vienna; I’ll meet you as soon as possible, not before August 22.” While the meeting was in progress, Mueller had called from Vienna to talk to Phillips.
“We can’t wait so long, that’s why I insist to meet you in Austria.”
“Well, you’d better keep going at lower pace until August 22. What does Paine think about your project ?”
“Well, not too long before we were making a decision whether to man the third Saturn V, and now we are proposing a bold mission. Gentlemen, I need your opinion” Paine asked for comments by those around the table. Von Braun shot first.
“Once you decide to man Saturn V it does not matter how far you go. It’s our only chance to get to the moon before the end of 1969. I have no technical reservations. Our lunar capability will be enhanced by flying this mission; although this may not be the only way to meet our goal, it enhances our possibility. There is always risk, but this is in path of less risk. In fact, the minimum risk of all Apollo plans. Assuming Apollo 7 is a success there is no other choice.”
“I like this open-minded behaviour.” Paine continued. ”You are not prisoners of previous plans; I personally feel sending Apollo 8 into lunar orbit is the right thing to do. Sam ?”
“Ok, I won’t go to Vienna. I’ll meet Mueller next week; but time is critical, so I‘ll try to convince him by phone before that. Now we have to convince James Webb. Apollo 7 will be crucial.”

August 18

For the first time in ten days Low relaxed in his office. He really need holidays...and had interrupted the said holidays to push the Apollo 8 decision !

Doesn’t matter, the decision had been made. The last three days had been exhausting; he could see how Sam Philips face was marked.
On August 15 Phillips and Paine had phoned to Vienna to discuss the plan with Webb. Webb wanted to think about it, and requested further information by diplomatic carrier. He had been shocked and fairly negative. So Paine and Philips had sent Webb a lengthy discourse on why the mission should be changed.
“He will change his mind with a successful Apollo 7 mission.” Philips told Low. “By the way, Mueller sidded with us. He now agree the plan, with reserve. No full announcement will be made until after the Apollo 7 flight; then, it will be announced that Saturn V number three will be manned and possible missions are being studied. An internal document will be prepared for a planned lunar orbit for December.

1969

Now the fantastic Apollo 8 mission was over. Next steps were to be a test of the LM in Earth orbit, and another around the Moon. Apollo 10 would not land however, as Grumman early lunar modules were simply too heavy.

This day, February 2, 1969, the phone rung in George Low office, Houston, Texas.

It was James Webb. "Congrats, George. President Nixon called me an hour ago and annouced me you're my successor at the head of NASA.
By the way, Bob Seamans is leaving, too, so you'll have to find you a deputy to assist you. See you this afternoon."

The two man had met, and reviewed a list of potential deputy administrators. Amid them were George Mueller, Maxime Faget, Bob Gilruth, Gene Krantz, Werner von Braun and other germans from Marshall, and Dale Myers.

Low choice was Myers.

Now Webb and him had another subject of discussion.

"Nixon transition team on space just published its final report. Some people says Tricky Dick don't give a damn about space, but its transition team on space was led by a Nobel Prize, for god sake ! Charles Townes did a reasonable, balanced job. Look at this."

What are the program items and their urgency for the immediatefitum?Various items needing special consideration are


a. A manned space station. We are against any present commitment to the construction of a large space station, but believe study of the possible purposes and design of such a station should be continued.

b. Apollo Applications Program. This program should proceed as a way of testing man's role in space, of allowing a healthy continuing manned space program, and for the biomedical and scientific information it will yield.

c. Lunar exploration. Lunar exploration after the first Apollo landing will be exciting and valuable. But additional work needs to be initiated this year to provide for its full exploitation by means of an adequate mobility and extended stay on the lunar surface.

d. Planetary exploration. The US. program for planetary exploration by instrumented probes needs to be strengthened and funds for such probes increased appreciably. However, the great majority of the task force is not in favor of a commitment at present to a manned planetary lander or orbiter.

e. Astronomy and other sciences. The space program is important to a number of sciences, and can be of enormous benefit to astronomy. This potential should be continuously developed through sound and stable programs.

f. Applications of spacecraft and associated techniques for civil and commercial benefit. We believe research and development of such applications should be supported strongly and increased in pace. Furthermore, the new administration should give considerable
attention to their use in promoting international cooperation.

(snip)

Cost reduction , and “low cost”boosters. The unit costs of boosting payloads into space can be substantially reduced, but this requires an increased number of flights, or such an increase coupled with an expensive development program. We do not recommend initiation
of such a development, but study of the technical possibilities and rewards.
Some cost reductions in the space program can probably be made simply through experience and stabilization of the level of effort, and through coordination of future NASA and DOD programs.

Low was stunned. "Ouch. That won't please Mueller - no space station nor space shuttle. That won't please Von Braun - no Mars mission nor NERVA.
The direction is clear - more lunar exploration or broader use of Apollo hardware. Or both."

Webb grinned at Low.

"That's it. After all we go to the Moon, so why going further - Mars - or retreat to low Earth orbit ? Let's explore the Moon further and better."

"I see. The main problem we face is Apollo transportation system real lack of efficiency. The LM is too small, even on cargo-only variants delivers barely 3000 kg to the lunar surface. We have to dugg through the Apollo Application Program to see if grown-variants of Apollo can allow better lunar exploration" Low concluded.


March 1969

Low and Myers had send signals to Nixon, signals that carefully followed recommandations of the Townes panel - more lunar exploration and nothing else.

However the NASA centers and contractors had been very productive over the last decades. They had produced huge piles of papers and large amounts of lunar plans.

Low and Myers had to find the best answer to the Townes report.

"We have to start from Mueller's Apollo Application Program. However unlike Apollo itself, which was driven by Kennedy deadline, AAP was not very well defined.

"We have to eliminate all the non-lunar stuff within AAP - earth orbiting space station, Earth survey mission, satellite servicing and allthis crap". Myers said.

"This aim bad for Skylab" Low said dryly. "Unless we put it around the Moon, but for what use ? It is too heavy, unless we go back to the wet workshop concept."

Myers dugg through the pile of documents. "I have it. It is LASS - Lunar Application of a Spent S-IVB. The annexes features ann interesting proposal. An empty S-IVB weight 14 tons, just like a LM. So the CSM can insert that in low lunar orbit."

"Kind of Skylab to the Moon - Moonlab maybe ?" Low smiled. "Dale, even lunar orbiting space stations are unuseful. We should focuse on lunar surface only. Didn't AAP had some lunar base concepts ?"
"Of course, plety of them. AES, ALSS, LESA..."
"What a bunch of acronyms. Can you detail that briefly ?"

"Of course. Got a summary from Mueller and the contractors.

"AES, ALSS and LESA represent a gradual increase in lunar bases capacity. They essentially differs by their logistic vehicle - LM shelter, LM Truck, and a clean sheet LLV. " AES / ALSS LM-derivatives can't land more than 4000 kg of payload."

"Why that ?"

"Because these LM-derivatives use storable propellants, a CSM, and LOR to go to the Moon. This is certainly not the most efficient way of exploiting a Saturn V, at least for cargo delivery to the lunar surface."

"Indeed. And I suppose LESA is the answer to that."

"You got it George. Lunar Exploration Systems for Apollo features a clean-sheet cargo carrier maximizing Saturn V performance to the lunar surface.
In other words, Direct Ascent and lox/hydrogen RL-10s."
"Which translates as ?"
"12 000 to 25 000 kg to the lunar surface. Four to six times any LM derivatives."
"Excellent. Heck, this look like a return to the Direct Ascent days before 1962 - when Von Braun wanted to land the whole lunar stack to the surface, S-IVB included. The CSM engine was made powerfull enough for such sheme, and still is. That explains why the CSM mass 30 000 kg, way too much for LOR.

"You're right George. Back to Direct Ascent, although for cargo only."

"Dale, this is really the way to go. That what we need for efficient lunar exploration. But how does the crew goes to the Moon in the LESA sheme ?"

"Still with the CSM / LM combo."

"Ok. Maybe we should try merging the two vehicles into a direct ascent lander. Didn't Mc Donnel had such plan for a rescue Gemini ?"
"Yes. May be we should dug that further. Whatver, if we propose any lunar base or exploration to Nixon, we have to forget those AES or ALSS, and go for LESA directly.
LESA is what matched the Townes panel recommandations closely." Low concluded.


July 24 1969

It had been a very complicated story to bring Nixon and his staff to the USS Hornet.
Air Force One had flown to Hawai, then to Johnston Island.
There, two Sea Kings had flew the President to the USS Arlington, a Navy major communications relay ship.
Nixon had spent the night there, then the two choppers had flown him up to the USS Hornet.

George Low, as NASA administrator, sat next to Nixon in the Sea King. The helicopter rapidly flew over the Pacific this day of July.

Inevitably Low talk to Nixon drifted toward the future of manned spaceflight. What next after Apollo ?

"George - I'm personally very enthusiastic about American space activities. However we have to withstand the burden of the vietnam war, and I'm not sure I can keep throwing large amount of money at the space program with this war on.

"I understand. As you know we carefully took in consideration your transition on space report, led by Charles Townes. We know he recommended more lunar exploration.
So we thought an option matching its recommandations. And we found a concept from 1963-65. It is called Lunar Exploration System for Apollo - LESA.
The only new start is a large unmanned logistic vehicle, which payload will boost Apollo missions enormously. Aside that, all the hardware is an extension of current Apollo.

Further, I'm ready to accept some sacrifices, and a reduced budget.
First, we won't ask for a manned expedition to Mars.
Secondly, we are ready to stretch the remaining Apollo mission up to 1975, at a rate of two per year.

The main sticky point is Saturn V: to maintain the production line open, we need that our budget remains above the fatidic 4 billion dollar level per year.
I'm ready to cancell Skylab and NERVA to save budget - we don't need them in the LESA sheme.
More Saturn will roll out of the production line, and their cost will drop significantly. Again, we don't need nor want expensive upgrades to the current booster. Current Saturn V can do the job.

Look: we just started exploring the Moon, so we have to hang on. We can't explore Mars, not now; but we can't retreat to low Earth orbit, not now."

Low had done his best. He looked through the helicopter window. The Hornet was in sight now. What did Nixon thought about all that ?

"So you're ready to make sacrifices - and accept a lower budget, but not below some level. Look, you half convinced me, but congress may balk at the cost of more lunar exploration. Could you draft a paper comparing the cost of your austere Mars mission, of your Lisa sheme, and of a Earth orbit space station with an expendable crew taxi ?"

Low rapidly analyzed Nixon words. He did not mentionned the Shuttle. He wants austere programs - cheap Mars or cheap Moon or cheap space station.

"We will do that. Our report will be ready in september."


1970

March


Over the last six months Low had literally spent days in meetings with every important people within Nixon staff – the Weinberger, Mayo, DuBridge, Kissinger, Erlichman…

From all these meetings he had now a taste over the general mood. It was not very encouraging – ramping inflation, Vietnam war, sequel to Johnson great society weighed more heavily than NASA on the federal budget.

At least Nixon advisors liked Low pragmatic vision – that NASA would follow the path of Nixon transition team on space.

Push lunar exploration further, period.

No push for Mars, no bold new technology like NERVA. Low had forged a vision: an austere Lunar exploration plan as a continuation of the ongoing Apollo effort. That, coupled with a stretch of remaining Apollo flights, resulted in a balanced lunar program folding into a maximum $4.5 billion budget per year – Nixon had capped the space agency level to this upward limit.

Nixon had finally published a statement where he publicly endorsed an advanced manned lunar exploration program – Lunar Exploration System for Apollo.

The cost to NASA had been high however.

NERVA cancelled. Skylab cancelled. Viking cancelled. Saturn IB cancelled. No space shuttle. There would be no major uprate to the Saturn V – not even F-1A nor J-2S. No big solids. And the remaining Apollo flights had been stretched at two per year, up to 1976. The Lunar Module would evolved into the LM taxi, for extended duration on the lunar surface. The CSM would remain unchanged.

The only new start was the LLV, a big RL-10 can launched, direct-ascent style, by a Saturn V right to the lunar surface.
Saturn V production line had been officially reopened in February 1970, after a 18 month hiatus since july 1968. Saturn 516 through 520 had been budgeted, enough for a first try at LESA after 1975.

Despite the high cost, it was a coherent strategy – continuing lunar exploration, expanding Apollo instead of pushing further or retreating to low Earth orbit.



1971

June 26

Robert Anderson was a CIA analyst at Langley, and he had was amazed. The satellite data showed that a huge explosion, as big as a tactical nuclear bomb, had happened in Kazakhstan. “Looks like the soviets blew their second N-1 moon rocket” he told the man standing near him. Jack Power was from the british CIA counterpart.
The man grinned “you mean their THIRD moon rocket. Why you at the CIA don’t want to understand the first flight test was in February 1969, not July ?”
“Ask the boss why. The prooves you british gathered looks convincing.
Whatever, second or third attempt, its still a failure. They don’t progress much… we still don’t have any idea of what soviet lunar plans looks like.
Some say they just flyby the Moon, other they want to send a Salyut around it, others that the Soyuz is their Apollo, so that there’s inevitably a soviet LM hanging around, already tested unmanned in low earth orbit as a Cosmos any-number-you-like.
We simply don’t know what the big exploding rocket was carring.”

Baikonur

10 000 km away from Langley, Vasily Mishin knew it exactly. He was recovering for another hangover this day – the only way for him to withstand the pressure Chelomei, Ustinov, Glushko and the Politburo exerced on him was to get drunk again and again. Viktor Afanasyev wanted his head on a silverplate, too.
The current plan was to spent lunar Soyuz and tiny LK landers into manned and unmanned earth orbital flight tests, and N-1 explosions. A much more advanced lunar program was ongoing – the L3M.

The first batch of N-1s had been good for nothing.

1L and 2L had been bare mockups. 3L had exploded – the first N1 to be launched in February 1969, the one the British could not convince the CIA it had ever existed.
4L had not even been launched – cracks had been found in its tanks, it had been cannibalised as a result.
5L had exploded, too, two weeks before Armstrong set his foot on the Sea of Tranquillity. That had been a huge explosion, so big it had been detected by American satellites usually tasked with monitoring soviet nuclear tests !
6L had exploded this day of 1971.
7L was a carbon copy of it, so, although its launch was planned late 1972, Mishin had no hope it would past first stage separation.

So the battered, drunk ingenier pinned all its hopes into the 8L – first of the much improved N-1F, to be flown around 1974.

8L would have, again, a dummy payload – Chelomei Almaz. Perfectly unuseful manned military space station. The Americans were more clever than us, cancelling their own Almaz - the MOL - before completion.
Unknown by Mishin at the time, late 1969 its ingeniers and Chelomei teams had sceretely conspired to build an Almaz with Soyuz subsystems, a civilian space station dubbed Salyut. The plot, however, had failed miserably. With Nixon unexpected push for more lunar exploration its looked obvious there would be no space station in low Earth orbit. N1 8L would send the first, half-finished Almaz hull around the Moon. It would be loaded with experiments, captors and cameras, and eventually a Soyuz or a LK for a simulation of a lunar landing.

“the 8L will fly mid1974. If I survive until this moment – that’s a big if.” He sipped its alcohol faster.



1974

June


Mishin had been fired. The N1 7L had failed as expected. Now every eminence in the soviet space fought to be the next leader of the manned space program.

The fate of the N-1 was on the balance.

The VPK met this day of June to find Mishin a successor at the head of TskBEM. There were ingeniers and mathematicians, and politicians – Chelomei, Glushko, Keldysh, Mishin deputy Okhapkin, Afansyev, Ustinov.
For years these men had played wicked games – sometimes allies, sometimes enemies. Their conflicts had cost the Soviet Union billion of rubbles, and the Moon.
Now, however, they were pressed by time. Apollo continued moving ahead, at lower pace. Apollo 19 astronauts had flown a LM taxi to the Moon, setting new endurance records. And the first LESA mission would be flown late 1977 – in time for the soviet revolution 60th anniversary !
The atmosphere in the little room near Moscow was explosive. Glushko intented to be made boss ofTskBEM, merge it with its engine design bureau, kill the N-1, and start afresh with a brand new rocket.
“But that will push our first lunar landing well into the 80’s” Sergey Afansyev answered. “We can’t accept that.”
“The N-1 is a piece of junk. “ Glushko answered bitterly. “We should better burn pile of rubbles directly.”
“Like it or not, and despite its weaknesses the N-1 is the only heavy lifter we have as of today.” Keldysh added, glacial. Ustinov approved. So did Afanasyev - to Glushko astonishment.
And suddenly he understood. They can’t let the Moon to the Americans. Maybe they think NASA will fly military astronauts to the Moon – god know what will happen after that. Ontop of that both Keldysh and Okhapkin were Korolev fellows !
This time conspirators had played against Glusko. He had been set aside ! Okhapkin would be the leader of the new entity, not him. The N-1 program would hang on, and so would the L3M big lander.


What ? You bastards ! They all plotted against me.

Unbestknown to Glushko, the order had come from much higher - from Premier Kosyguin with Breznhev tacit approval. It was a case of prestige, not of rational thinking. Everybody knew that Glushko objective was to kill the N-1 and substitute its own rocket. Although probably a much better design, it amounted, after all, to a paper project with a ten year development shedule. And that was, plain simply, unacceptable.



1987

The mobile lab – MOLEX - now rolling across the crater plain at ten miles an hour looked rather like an outsized trailer mounted on six flex-wheels. But it was very much more than this; it was a self-contained base, a vehicle which provided complete life support capabilities for its 3-man crew during a 90-day, 3425-km mission. Indeed, it was virtually a landgoing spaceship - and in an emergency it could even fly. If it came to a crevasse or canyon which was too large to detour, and too steep to enter, it could hop across the obstacle on its four underjets.

“Hey buddy, doesn’t the actual situation remind you of 2001 ? I mean, the book, not movie.” Vance Brand grinned at Sally Ride next him.
“But I’m the geologist here.” Eugene Shoemaker voice joked. Fuck this Addison disease of mine.

The Moon being a small world, the curvature was much more pronounced than on Earth. Thus the small LM taxi had been rapidly out of sight. The much taller LLV had took longer, but had now vanished, too.
Ride, Brand and Shoemaker felt isolated – but this sentiment did not last long. A small star rapidly crossed the sky above their head: Apollo, flying solo, waiting to bring them home.

Everything had been carefully mothballed. The CSM first, left in lunar orbit. Brand had then led its LM taxi to a gentle, perfect landing near the three-story tall Lunar Logistic Vehicle. The huge RL-10-powered can had been launched ahead of them, straight to the lunar surface by a Saturn V. Shoemaker had been squeezed in the LM aft comparment. He had sat on the ascent engine cover and watched, amazed, the deployment of MOBEX – fully automated of course.
A ramp unfold from the LLV and the ten-ton vehicle hesitantly drove himself to the lunar surface. It then moved toward the LM taxi, stopping near a footpad. They would not even touch the lunar soil, not immediately – instead transfering directly to the rover interior.
Before that they had shut the LM down, patiently mothballing it. As they drove away from the small, isolated camp, he surprised Brand waving at the lander – saluting it with its gloved fingers, and muttering “good luck, baby.”

Those astronauts – he rolled his eyes.

Ride was now driving the rover toward the rim of Aristarchus. The sight was outstanding. And their were those flashes in its retinas – radiations entering his eyes !

Shoemaker noted how the Lunar landscape was disturbing for the human eye. There was no colors outside boring tones of grey, no atmosphere to allow estimation of distances, the deep black sky making a violent contrast with any landscape.
This was the mission day 7 – a week had been spent in the MOBEX cramped space. Fortunately there had been many, many stops. Excellent geological traverse.

The mission climax, however, had yet to come.

“There !” Ride said. “I have the L3M in sight.” Brand had it, too. The soviet lander was tall, a bit crude-looking; a large thing, four legs topped by an oval upper stage – a soyuz reentry module literally hanged to the roof of an egg-shapped hangar.
The soviets had already unfolded their rover, smaller and open-cab – after all its only their third mission up there. There was noone outside, however.

Brand, Ride and Sheomaker parked the MOLEX as close as possible from the soviet lander. A soviet astronaut waved at them through a small window – was it Petrov ?

Now an extension tube like a stubby elephant trunk was nuzzling affectionately up against the soviet spacecraft.

A few seconds later, there were bangings and bumpings from outside, followed by the sound of hissing air as connections were made and pressure was equalized. The inner door of the airlock opened. There were Petrov, and Viktorenko, and Ivanovitch – the latter with its round head bolted to his shoulders, and puffy cheeks – all bortsh and potatoes and vodka.

The Russian and U.S. commanders walked through the docking tunnel, shaked hands and exchanged greetings.

They all moved into the L3M, facing the camera with the Russian and U.S. flags as a backdrop. There were toasts to successful space missions, and gifts - a halved pewter medallion bearing a relief image of LM Taxi and L3M on the lunar surface, which two halves were joined during the ceremony; and 1/200th-scale model of the repesctive lunar stacks.

Shoemaker and Petrov turned toward the camera and said


"The success of this endeavor demonstrates the desire of these two nations to work cooperatively to achieve the goal of providing tangible scientific and technical rewards that will have far-reaching effects to all people of the planet Earth and beyond.”


The crew exchanged food tubes – some of those, unbestknown to Earth, contained whisky and vodka.

The PR done, the crews started to work together. The robustness of the soviet hardware, and the sophistication of American gear married perfectly.

To say, we could have given up lunar exploration fifteen years ago… there will be a lunar base in the next future… we are planting the first seeds in this direction...
 
Viking didn't exist in 1968; Voyager Mars was still being studied, as Mariner 9 had yet to show that the Martian atmosphere was about ten times too thin for Voyager to work. That said, some Mars mission may still happen in the 1970's; Titan III will still be around, and it would be throwing a bone to Mars community after Mariner 9's incredible results.

Neither Voyager 1/2 or Pioneer 10/11 were scheduled at that point either. Again, though, something like them may happen, as the Titan III was available, and the once-in-200-years opportunity was just too good to pass up. However, rather than the four spacecraft, the equivalents of Pioneer 10/11 may not fly (as they were really just technology pathfinders), making the Alt Voyagers are the first to Jupiter and Saturn (probably still two, as it is a really risky mission).

All that aside, it is cool to think of Shoemaker at Aristarchus: the father of lunar geology at its most impressive site. Of course, for bonus points, you should have had him do a traverse from Copernicus to Eratosthenes...
 

Archibald

Banned
Viking didn't exist in 1968; Voyager Mars was still being studied, as Mariner 9 had yet to show that the Martian atmosphere was about ten times too thin for Voyager to work. That said, some Mars mission may still happen in the 1970's; Titan III will still be around, and it would be throwing a bone to Mars community after Mariner 9's incredible results.

Neither Voyager 1/2 or Pioneer 10/11 were scheduled at that point either. Again, though, something like them may happen, as the Titan III was available, and the once-in-200-years opportunity was just too good to pass up. However, rather than the four spacecraft, the equivalents of Pioneer 10/11 may not fly (as they were really just technology pathfinders), making the Alt Voyagers are the first to Jupiter and Saturn (probably still two, as it is a really risky mission).

Well said. I'll add that at the very beginning the Grand Tour consisted of four even more sophisticated robots with a thing called the TOPS computer. That will probably survive, at least a pair of them.

Overall, probably more Mariner orbiters for both Mars and giant planets. Less landers, as they are more costly.

Saturn V won't be used for science as it is too expensive.
 
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well, exelent begining, cant ardly wait for the next update, what will be discovered on the Moon ? A Permanent Base estabelished , mining operations. etc.. Maybye some Allien device :D
 
Overall, probably more Mariner orbiters for both Mars and giant planets. Less landers, as they are more costly.

Less landers means one or zero! And while they can, I doubt NASA will cede the Soviets the first real Mars landing. But, you could split the Viking landers from the orbiters (which were just upgraded Mariners). Maybe something like this:

1974: Upgraded Mariner (essentially Viking Orbiter) to Mars on an Atlas-Centaur
1976: Second Upgraded Mariner to Mars on an Atlas-Centaur
1978: Two Viking-class landers dual-manifested on a Titan III
1984: MGS-class orbiter to Mars on an Atlas-Centaur*

This is only one more mission than the same time period in OTL, and more spread out. Also, with a strong lunar program in the 1980s, the planetary geology community is going to be much stronger than OTL in the 80s (and the microgravity community correspondingly much smaller). This would be reflected in the balance of NASA funding, allowing for the 1984 orbiter.

*I'm assuming that fewer Saturn IBs mean fewer leftover H-1/RS-27s, and thus Delta II never takes off.
 
some notes

Voyager Mars
was a ambitions Program for Big Mars Orbiter and Lander
in total 25100 kg (the lander 5900 kg on Mars)
thats so big it neede a Saturn V to launch two probes at once.
wat push the Budget on 12 Bilion in Today U.S. Dollar :eek:
so US Congress cancel It

Alternative lander
next to Viking Project, were plans by JLP to drop small landers from Fly-by Mariners
but with disadvantage of lower scientific data gain, as Viking landers and orbiter

Planetary Grand Tour
four big probe with "multiple redundant systems to ensure reliability over missions lasting up to 12 years."
equipped with TOPS computer and High data transmission.
launch first two in 1976 & 1977 make fly by Jupiter, Saturn, and Pluto.
launch second two in 1979 make fly by Jupiter, Uranus, and Neptune.
in 1972 budget cuts kill the Grand Tour program
so a new "faster, better, cheaper" project became 2 small probes called "Voyager"

Alternative "Grand Tour"
Pioneer 10&11 launch in 1972 and 1973 were a Test for Grand Tour
but contractor TWR had build a Third probe "Pioneer H" as backup
JPL wandet to launch it as Pioneer 12 in 1974 but NASA management say no
also contractor TWR proposed a low cost Jupiter orbiter based on Pioneer 10-12 hardware
but JPL had idea to use Parts of Voyager probe for Jupiter orbiter (aka Vovager 3)
in end it became the Gallieo Orbiter

with Pioneer 10 probe build&launch cost of only 200 milion in 1970's U.S. Dollar
make ideal for this TL to become a "faster, better, cheaper" Grand Tour
 
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