Explorers: Ad astra
What is it ?
A huge space TL (if not a space wank at times, admittedly: an utopia rather than a dystopia. Archibald hates dystopias)
It fill 1400 pages of a WORD file and truth be told !
I'm still adding things (!). It is a never-ending project,
so there might be retcon or reboots along the way.
List of Post
Part 1 Early Moves (1968-1971)
Post 3: The Apollo 8 decision, August 1968
Post 4: Apollo 8 August 20, 1968
Excerpt 1: Soviet and Russian Lunar Exploration by Brian Harvey (2007)
Post 5: Apollo 8 - time to start serious business
Post 7: 1969-1971: a transition era
Post 8: CAPE KENNEDY – Florida - February 5, 1991
Post 10: Here come the Soviet space program...
Post 11: Dreaming of Mars on both sides of the Iron Curtain
Post 12: advancing through 1970
Part 2 Space (1971-1972)
Post 15: the space shuttle alternate history - let's start
Post 16: a little of the right stuff
Post 17: 1971 - NASA quandary: shuttle first or space station first ?
Post 18: 40 years before Golden Spike - the first commercial lunar mission !
POst 17: Battle for the space shuttle; with George Low in command
Post 18: Shape of things to come
Post 19: The final battle for the space shuttle !
Post 20: The final battle for the space shuttle: first round !
Post 21: A bit of fun with the Soviet space program. It's only a beginning !
Post 22: The final battle for the space shuttle: August 25, 1971
Post 23: The final battle for the space shuttle: the next round
Post 24: The final battle for the space shuttle: The Flax committee hold its second meeting
Post 25: ESRO / ELDO and NASA future plans.
Post 26: SHALL WE BUILD THE SPACE SHUTTLE?
Post 28: the capsules strike back !
Background information and graphic
Post 29: final battle for the space shuttle: the end phase I
Post 30: October 25, at Manned Spaceflight Center, Houston, Texas
Post 31: The shuttle is half dead.. yet it might be even worse for NASA
Post 32: meanwhile, on the European side of the space program...
Post 33: Battle for the shuttle - phase II
Post 35: final battles for the shuttle...
Post 36: final battles for the shuttle: things are going downhill pretty fast...
Post 37: Why no European deep space probes in the 70's, 80's ? Because...
Part 3 Helios (1972-1979)
Post 38: 1972 is coming ! Brace yourself for an eventful year in NASA history...
Post 39: 1972 - NASA at crossroads
Post 41: tying up the loose ends - Mathematica, Heiss, and Morgenstern
Post 42: Titan III and alternatives
Background information on Launch Vehicles and Manned Crafts propsals after end of Shuttle
Post 43: the empire strike back
Post 44: NASA February 10, 1972
Post 45: Williamsburg February 28, 1972
Post 47: here come the post-Skylab space station
Post 48: back from Coventry (why Conventry ? I don't understand)
Post 49: meanwhile on the other side of the Iron Curtain...
Post 50: Glushko biography - with a twist
Post 52: talking about Saturn V future (this is straight out of OTL)
Post 53: straight out of OTL (Siddqi) A Buran soviet space shuttle ? what is that ?
Post 54: Excerpt from: A history of the European Space Agency, 1958 - 1987 (ITTL)
Post 56: How NOT to build a space station - as done with 1984 Freedom
Post 57: Decision point - and the winner is...
Post 59: July 5, 1972. Downey, California
Post 61: The space station decision
Post 62: Asnys, Delta Force - this one is for you !
Post 65: November 23 1972. Baikonur, Kazakhstan
Post 66: some alt-history within the alt-history
Excerpt 4: from: A history of the European Space Agency, 1958 - 1987 (ITTL)
Post 67: and now... a little alternate pop culture
Post 68: Hippies on the Moon - with Apollo (four decades before Golden Spike)
Post 69: alternate pop culture, part 2
Post 70: Gemini-B1 test flight
Post 71: 14 May 1973 launch of Skylab.
Post 76: More from the Soviets
Post 77: October 1973 – February 1974 OIL
Post 78: May 16, 1974, "It isn’t ours to divine the future."
Post 79: August 9, 1974. The Soviet lunar program
Post 80: the space shuttle ghost
Post 90: JPL, planetary exploration, and the National Academies
Post 92: It's ugly, but it gets you there.
Post 93: Apollo and lifting bodies
Post 94: The NRO is watching you !
Post 95 Peter N. James’s none-too-subtly titled book Soviet Conquest From Space
Post 95: CNES meeting in Beaugency, about feasibility of using Ariane for manned flight.
Post 96: ISS: the interim space station
Post 98: HOW TO REPLACE THE APOLLO LUNAR LANDING SYSTEM (1976)
Post 99: April 1976. Mo Udall, in his run for the democratic nomination
Post 100: Lockheed bribery scandal, NASA, and the Agena
Post 102: Langley taking the helm - the shuttle dream ain't dead yet
Post 104: little update on planetary exploration
Post 105: March 27, 1977 Helios spacecraft "//America//" in orbit.
Post 106: The Maskirovka, part II
background information about Space Hardware in this TL
background information about NRO spysats
Post 107:THE COSMOS 929 ENIGMA
Post 108:LOCKHEED WINS SPACE TELESCOPE
Post 109: DIAGONAL and ECONOMICS OF ROCKET REUSE
Post 110: L-5 Society & National Space Institute and the Space Settlement Society
Post 111: pop culture Part III
Post 112: Helios Soyuz Test program
background information to post 112
Post 113: Olin "Tiger" Teague or how the space program changing the face of politics
Post 114: The X-27 Test flight under Subscale Shuttle Program
Post 118: October 4 1978. Launch Complex 41
Post 119: Saint Louis, Missouri, the home of McDonnell Douglas
Post 120:March 15 1979 Kindley Naval Air Station, Bermuda (Skylab Deorbit)
Post 121:May 1979 Paris, France (a French spationaut on Soviet spacecraft)
Part 4 Liberty (1979-1999)
Post 126: The closure of Marshall space flight center and launch of Liberty module
Post 127: Hyperion docking with Liberty module
Post 128: Commercials Titan Rocket
Post 129: Additional Moduls for Liberty Station.
Post 130: The eruption of Mount St Helens view from Space
Post 131: Blue Helios missions.
Post 132: 1973 Concorde chasing a Solar eclipse across the Earth