Goddard Lives: Alternate U.S Space Program

Prologue
February 5, 1989

Robert Zubrin steadied himself as he prepared to take the first step onto Mars. It wouldn't do to have the first step turn into a fall, no sirree, it wouldn't.

But what words should be choose? He had through long and hard about it, and asked all sorts of people for suggestions, including the crew of Athena 5 (Sally Ride had given him some pretty good suggestions, but none of them seemed to have that spark needed, the spark that Gorelick's famous words on the moon ("That's one small step for a woman, one giant leap for all humanity") had.

Suddenly, it came to Zubrin what he should say. Combing the words on Apollo 7's LM descent stage's plaque with some of his own would work.

And so the first words on Mars were:

"We come in peace, not just to explore, to discover, but for all humanity."

And Robert Goddard, back at Mission Control in Houston, smiled the widest smile anyone had seen him smile in decades.
 
And the 107 year old’s nurse knew that she had to change his diaper again.

LOL, that's pretty good.

This timeline is inspired by truth is life's To Rise From the Earth: Alternate 'post-Apollo' space program ( https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=139242 ) and catboy's Three Seconds Late ( https://www.alternatehistory.com/discussion/showthread.php?t=131526&highlight=seconds+late&page=14 ) timelines. Did anyone notice any PODs in the first post?
 
:(I really hate to do this to the reputation of a great man, but... Goddard was a jealous inventor who couldn't work with others. Though his work was useful, maybe even essential to American rocketry, after WWII others had already gone beyond him. I doubt his further survival would advance the art much, particularly if he spent decades fighting over patents.

His survival to that age is ASB.
 
:(I really hate to do this to the reputation of a great man, but... Goddard was a jealous inventor who couldn't work with others. Though his work was useful, maybe even essential to American rocketry, after WWII others had already gone beyond him. I doubt his further survival would advance the art much, particularly if he spent decades fighting over patents.

His survival to that age is ASB.

One of the PODs is a gradual personality change in Goddard.

And there ARE people alive who are 110 or older, so it's unlikely, but not impossible.
 
Impressive, and I'd like to see where this goes. Tell me, is the Mars mission based on OTL Zubrin's Mars Direct, or a Von Braun-ish The Mars Project, or Goddard's own scheme?
 
Impressive, and I'd like to see where this goes. Tell me, is the Mars mission based on OTL Zubrin's Mars Direct, or a Von Braun-ish The Mars Project, or Goddard's own scheme?

It's going to somewhat resemble Mars Direct, but with a few twists of my own. For one thing, NASA is going to know a LOT more about the surface chemistry of Mars thanks to more landers, so (take a guess)...
 
One of the PODs is a gradual personality change in Goddard.

And there ARE people alive who are 110 or older, so it's unlikely, but not impossible.

I can accept personality change-that does happen. Maybe he becomes reconciled to Oberth?

Goddard had tuberculosis; I think it would eventually flare up and get him.

I can't see a version of the Marsprojekt going through to completion by anybody. Mars Direct could have been done OTL in the early 80's if anybody had thought of it (technologically and economically if not politically).
 
"The moment that Goddard met Lindbergh and Pershing in 1930 [1] was a turning point for American rocket research. Without Lindbergh's support in seeking out funding (and convincing Goddard in the post-WWII years that he should not tie up U.S space efforts with patent battles) and Pershing convincing the American military that they should support research into rocket artillery, the first satellite launch might have been delayed for decades beyond real life..."

-Space Race: The Epic Battle Between America and the Soviet Union for Dominion of Space, by Deborah Cadbury

"I had read about the rocket artillery of the army of the sultan of Mysore and how effective they were in battle. In fact, they had (after being captured by the British, and refined) been valuable in defeating Napoleon at the battle of Waterloo. With rockets, one could also boost range to significantly further distances (perhaps even using airplane spotters to somehow guide the rockets toward enemy positions)[2].

-My Experiences in the World War And Afterwards, by General John J. Pershing

"Oh yes, we had to convince Robert [Goddard] over time that we French engineers had developed these concepts independently, not by stealing them from a hapless American, as he though at first. But over time, he, as you Americans would say, 'mellowed out'."

-Interviews With The Early Space Pioneers, by Norman Mailer

[1] Thanks to sight butterflies, Pershing meets and gets to know Lindbergh.

[2] Not actually that practical, as it turns out.
 
I can accept personality change-that does happen. Maybe he becomes reconciled to Oberth?

Goddard had tuberculosis; I think it would eventually flare up and get him.

I can't see a version of the Marsprojekt going through to completion by anybody. Mars Direct could have been done OTL in the early 80's if anybody had thought of it (technologically and economically if not politically).

Actually, something else is going to happen to Oberth...

I have a plan to take care of the TB.

Yeah, Marsprojekt was just plain old awful. But the thing that's going to happen to Oberth is also going to happen to von Braun, and Goddard will have to come up with some other way to get to Mars after Sea Dragon and Nova-class rockets don't get built...

BTW, this TL is being written on the wing, so please point out errors! ;)
 
Actually, something else is going to happen to Oberth...

I have a plan to take care of the TB.

Yeah, Marsprojekt was just plain old awful. But the thing that's going to happen to Oberth is also going to happen to von Braun, and Goddard will have to come up with some other way to get to Mars after Sea Dragon and Nova-class rockets don't get built...

BTW, this TL is being written on the wing, so please point out errors! ;)

Some other way to get to Mars...

Maybe a Mars-for-less idea, with the Mars Direct-style lander and ERV mated to their interplanetary stages in LEO.

Anyway, I can see a sales pitch for rocketry involving reconnaissance, but given the state of television and radio at the time, manned reconnaissance space stations seem like they'd have a role ITTL.
 
Some other way to get to Mars...

Maybe a Mars-for-less idea, with the Mars Direct-style lander and ERV mated to their interplanetary stages in LEO.

Anyway, I can see a sales pitch for rocketry involving reconnaissance, but given the state of television and radio at the time, manned reconnaissance space stations seem like they'd have a role ITTL.

Actually, Goddard is going to work on rocket artillery in the 30s.
 
December 1941
Grantham, England

Maggie had a spring in her step as she returned home from the Services canteen, even through she was tired from serving tea and biscuits to various RAF aircrews based at nearby airfields. America had entered the war. With its great resources, America would help turn the tide and free Europe from the scourge of fascism. And best of all (at least for young Maggie), the Soviet Union would be able to liberate eastern Europe, and possibly more, with the help of Goddard's rocket artillery becoming in via Lend-Lease aid.

Oh, it would probably delay the inevitable workers' revolutions in other countries if the Soviet Union got help instead of going it alone. But, Maggie remembered, "The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them."

===

October 1940
Office of the Secretary of War

"Mr. Goddard, how far could your rockets go? And how portable are they?"

"If you're talking about rocket artillery, 10-20 kilometers...err, I mean 5-10 miles, Mr. Secretary. And they can be mounted on a cargo truck or tank."

"Okay, go on."

"But what I really feel that rockets are really suited for is reconnaissance. They can take pictures from far above the ground; from altitudes that planes would be hard-pressed to reach. Getting pictures back may be a slight challenge, but we could develop a radio-transmittance method to..."

Secretary Stimson held his hand up.

"No, Mr. Goddard, you can talk about other uses for your rockets later." The Secretary of War was annoyed with Goddard's attempt to get the W
ar Department to use rockets for everything. God, couldn't the man realize that one thing could not be a cure-all, much less a patiently ridcious idea such as big rockets to go into space?

"What I'm interested in is this: can your rockets be adapted to handle, say, a five-ton payload?"

"Well, certainly. I would need..."

"More funding, I know. You can tell the committee on rockets later. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to meet someone else soon."

After the usual good-byes, Goddard got up and left the room. As he left, he noticed that a physicist that he vaguely knew of was entering. What was his name again...Leó Szilárd, wasn't it? Goddard wondered what was he doing here?
 
5-tonne payload = atomic weapon. It's clear where that's going. But if the Secretary of War thinks he can launch Little Boy off a truck or tank and set it off 20 kilometers away with no problem, he's got another thing coming. Looks like it'll be ICBMs first, then reconaissance satellites, just like OTL, but faster.
 
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