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alternatehistory.com
This is part of a tremendously huge alternate history which has been dynamically created over the last eight years. This part details the missions of an alternate lunar program as might have occurred if an Earth-Orbit-Rendezvous mission had been chosen in 1962 rather than a Lunar-Orbit-Rendezvous mission.
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The first flight of the CSM (Command Service Module) was largely a test of the new Saturn 1B heavy booster. Though the first stage had been extensively tested in the series of Saturn 1 flights, the rocket’s second stage was completely new and was also integral to the Saturn V, still in development. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The first stage worked perfectly lifting the rocket to 57 km, when the S-IVB took over and lifted the spacecraft to 425 km. The CSM separated and continued upwards to 488 km.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The CSM then fired its own rocket to accelerate the spacecraft towards Earth. The first burn lasted for 184 seconds. It then fired ten seconds later for ten seconds. This proved that the engine could restart in space, a crucial part of any manned flight to the moon.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It entered the atmosphere travelling 8300 m/s. It splashed down only 37 minutes after launch, 72 km from the planned touch down point and was onboard the USS Boxer two hours later.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As a result of this launch, the Saturn 1B was declared man-rated. The CSM was only a limited function Block 1 model of the lunar spacecraft. Extensive testing of the manned model would have to wait for a future mission.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 2:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]October 2, 1966[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This flight marked the first launch of the production model CSM. The spacecraft and its booster, the Saturn 1B, would be put through their paces until ground control was certain the combination was safe to carry astronauts.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Saturn 1B flew longer and higher than on Artemis 1, and the CSM fired its engine four times to reach an altitude of some 1150km. The spacecraft reentered, made a perfect landing, and was recovered by the USS Hornet.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Artemis CSM was declared man-rated as a result of this mission.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 3:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]January 27, 1967[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The first manned flight of the CSM was crewed by two stars and a rookie: Astronauts Grissom and White were joined by an astronaut of the third batch of recuits, Roger Chaffee. Gus Grissom once again insisted that his ship be named, and NASA grudgingly agreed on condition that the Artemis names be limited to mythological and/or patriotic themes. At White’s suggestion, Artemis 3 was known as “American Eagle”. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]This third CSM flight went without a technical hitch, although both White and Chaffee developed bad colds during the flight. Ironically, it was the normally irascible Grissom who supplied a calming influence when his crew became testy. It was on this flight that NASA knew they had their favored candidate for the first moonwalk.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After a successful splashdown and subsequent recovery by the USS Essex, NASA declared the misssion a complete success. The Von Braun team immediately put together plans for a family of spacecraft based on the Artemis CSM. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 4:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]March 10, 1967[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Before any flight to the moon could be made, the Saturn V, largest booster ever constructed, had to be tested in flight. This first launch of the largest booster ever constructed went off without a hitch, and it appeared the rocket would be ready for manned use by the beginning of 1968.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 5:[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]April 5, 1967[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Artemis transstage was required to boost the lunar spacecraft assembly into orbit around the moon. A fairly uncomplicated design, NASA still felt that the booster needed to be tested in orbit before a manned mission could be attempted.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Launched on a Saturn 1B, the transstage was parked in low orbit. The vehicle then fired its engine six times, reaching a maximum altitude of 6000 km before deorbiting and burning up over the Indian ocean (the transstage, while technically refuelable, was not in a usable orbit).[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The transstage operated nominally throughout the mission. It was not expected that the relatively simple booster would require much testing. With the completion of the flight, another component of the lunar mission was declared fully operational.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 6[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]August 18, 1967[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]After the successful flight of Artemis 4, NASA officials were confident the second Saturn V launch would qualify the booster for man-rating. Unfortunately, trouble began almost immediately after liftoff. Two minutes into the flight, the rocket began experiencing severe Pogo oscillations. George Mueller, Associate Administrator for the Office of Manned Flight describes the phenomenon:[/FONT]
“[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Pogo arises fundamentally because you have thrust fluctuations in the engines. Those are normal characteristics of engines. All engines have what you might call noise in their output because the combustion is not quite uniform, so you have this fluctuation in thrust of the first stage as a normal characteristic of all engine burning.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Now, in turn, the engine is fed through a pipe that takes the fuel out of the tanks and feeds it into the engine. That pipe's length is something like an organ pipe so it has a certain resonant frequency of its own and it really turns out that it will oscillate just like an organ pipe does.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The structure of the vehicle is much like a tuning fork, so if you strike it right, it will oscillate up and down longitudinally. In a gross sense it is the interaction between the various frequencies that causes the vehicle to oscillate.”[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The Saturn could not take the stress of these oscillations and broke apart only 187 seconds into the flight. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Another six to twelve months of reasjustment followed by another test flight were deemed necessary before a man could ride the Saturn V. Pressure from President Johnson for the circumlunar flight led this office to reach a compromise--a Saturn 1B would launch the Artemis CSM into space, but the transstage and fuel would be boosted by an unmanned Saturn V.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]At the insistence of President Johnson, a test flight around the moon using only the proven Artemis components (CSM and transstage) would be flown by the end of the year. This involved two separate launches, a Saturn 1B and an unmanned Saturn V, utilizing Pads 34 and 39 simultaneously for the first time. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Both launches went well, the fueled transstage orbiting on the 21st and the CSM, dubbed “Selene”, crewed by Delphi veterans, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell, as well as Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin who had yet to fly a mission, was launched on the 23rd. Selene docked with the transstage which then boosted them off to lunar orbit. Its fuel tank emptied, the transstage was then jettisoned. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Shortly into the trip, the fuel gauge dropped to empty. This was alarming to the crew and control, but as Artemis 7 made the mid-course burn with no problems, they breathed more easily, though they remained apprehensive.[/FONT] [FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 7sailed around the moon on Christmas Eve. As the Earth rose above the lunar horizon, Commander Frank Borman read from the book of Genesis. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Tragedy struck that day, however. Selene had been drifting slightly off course for days, and ground suggested the spacecraft fire its onboard engine early to make a correction. Selene’s SM engine refused to fire. Worse still, the engine would not fire again no matter what commands were fed it. In just three days, the Artemis would slam into the Earth’s atmosphere at too steep an angle, and would burn up.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]NASA engineers and the three hapless astronauts tried valiantly to save the craft during the long return trip. Improvised parts, spacewalks, rerouting of circuits, all proved fruitless in the end. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]On the morning of the 27th (EST), Artemis 7 made its final transmission to the world, announcing it was beginning its landing maneuvers. Ionization blackout precluded further contact. The world waited, holding its breath, desperate for a subsequent transmission which was never to come. Selene, along with her crew, did not survive re-entry.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 8[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]March 12, 1968[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]As investigations into the Artemis spacecraft's fatal flaws continued in every corner of NASA, a separate set of engineers worked feverishly to improve the safety of the Saturn V. Artemis 8 was to do double duty--at its top was a fueled transstage--the engine that would propel Artemis to the moon. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Unfortunately, Pogo reared its ugly head again, causing a premature shutdown of one of the second stage motors as a safety precaution. With insufficient velocity to make orbit, Artemis 8 was destroyed by range safety over the Atlantic.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 9[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]May 10, 1968[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It was with considerable trepidation that NASA engineers launched another, potentially faulty and very expensive Saturn V. However, Pogo dampeners installed on the first stage satisfactorily dealt with the problem, and the mighty rocket worked without problems. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]It lofted into space a fully fueled LDS (Lunar Descent Stage). The odd, unmanned spacecraft was put through its paces. Flight controllers on the ground fired the LDS' throttleable engines in every possible configuration with no significant problems. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 8a[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]June 19, 1968[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Engineers worked 24/7 to have a back-up Saturn V ready before summer, depleting the booster stock until 1969. This time, it was a near-perfect launch. The transstage also performed admirably through a set of burns. The last test sent the huge rocket into a high, eccentric orbit. Even as engineers were returning bad news about the Artemis Service Module, others were certifying the new transstage and descent module.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 10[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]February 2, 1969[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis returned to space with what had been planned as the natural sequel to Artemis 3--a fully fueled CSM and LDS stack on a Saturn V. Both performed nominally. Crewed by Delphi veterans Stafford, Cernan and See, the spacecraft logged 11 days in a variety of orbits. The ship had no official name, there being some dispute amongst the crew and between the directors and crew. Unofficially, Artemis 10 was known as "Dee", perhaps short for Diana or the greek word for 10 (deca) or a reference to Stafford's daughter, "Dionne".[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 11[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]May 23, 1969[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The world watched as NASA launched twin Saturn Vs for the first time. The largest boosters in history ascended within days of each other, each carrying quite different cargo. On one, a fueled transstage. On the other, veteran astronaut Schirra, along with Group 3 newcomers Don Eisele and Clifton Williams, flew the redesigned Artemis Mk. II. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]With a slate of planned rendezvous procedures, both spacecraft needed names, of course, and the laconic Schirra proved up to the task. The gum-drop shaped Artemis became "Franklin" while the transstage and LDS assembly was dubbed "Liberty Bell". The mission lasted 12 days, and the media was filled with pictures of docking spacecraft, spacewalking astronauts, and a return of Schirra's infamous, smuggled harmonica. After splashdown, no one questioned that the mission was a success, but there were still serious concerns about the next, operational mission.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Artemis 12[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]July 15, 1969[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]One week prior, a Saturn V lofted a fully-fueled transstage into orbit. It was docked with the Asgard space station and its cryogenic fuel refrigerated.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]On July 15, after a traditional breakfast of steak and eggs, astronauts Grisson, Chaffee and Bean were launched into history. After uniting in orbit with the transstage, Commander Grissom formally bid farewell to the Asgard crew. Informally, he had in his suit a corned beef sandwich, a gift from John Young. [/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Grissom had named the spaceship stack "Eagle II", not bothering to name the transstage this time around. The world held its breath as the rocket fired, sending a spacecraft towards the moon for the first time since the ill-fated Artemis 7 mission.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Three tense days passed. The moon loomed large in the Artemis windows and on televisions as the transstage was released to soar free in the solar system or to crash ignominiously into the moon. Lying flat on his back, Astronaut Chaffee guided the huge spacecraft complex down to the lunar surface. There were dozens of opportunities to scrub the landing and go back into orbit, but none were taken.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]Touchdown was light as a feather. The composition of the lunar surface was well known by this point, but there was still a sigh of relief as the dusty ground supported Artemis 12 with no problems.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]"Tranquility Base here. The Eagle has landed," came Grissom's calm voice. There was jubilation on the ground.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]More excitement came a few hours later when Grissom became the first human to set foot on another celestial body. Though the official words he spoke when he stepped off the ladder onto the lunar surface were, "That's one small step for a man, one giant leap for mankind," there is some suggestion that this was a later, staged oration, and that his first words, true to character, were more earthy.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]All three astronauts spent two weeks on the moon conducting measurements, taking samples, deploying probes and bouncing around happily in the light gravity. All expressed regret when Eagle's upper half blasted off from the LDS, leaving a monument which, like the astronauts' footprints, will last millions of years.[/FONT]
[FONT=Arial, sans-serif]The flight home was blessedly uneventful, and the astronauts were given a hero's welcome--in absentia. All three were quarantined for 3 weeks amid concerns that a lunar supergerm might have tagged along. But once free from medical isolation, they enjoyed a New York tickertape parade unheard of since Glenn orbited in 1962.[/FONT]