Keep Moving Forward

for-all-mankind:

What would have happened if Von Braun’s original plan for Space Exploration had come to fruition? In 1952, his long-term exploration plan for the Solar System was laid out in a series of now-famous articles in Collier’s Magazine and his book, Project Mars. Ferry rockets would launch crew and cargo to a rotating, artificial-gravity space station, which would then be used as a launching pad for Lunar and Martian missions. This historical vein never came to fruition, but is considered one of the grandest and romantic visions of space travel in history. It’s no surprise, then, that was considered for a film. Ultimately not being created due to a lack of funding, it would have “chronicled the major space exploration and exploitation events of the 20th and early 21st century in an alternative history timeline.” More info here.

The ferry rocket is one of my favourite rockets, and is shown above in a brilliant artist’s rendering on the launch pad.

onlyincanadayousay:

The Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow was a delta-winged interceptor aircraft, designed and built by Avro Canada as the culmination of a design study that began in 1953. Considered to be both an advanced technical and aerodynamic achievement for the Canadian aviation industry, the CF-105 (Mark 2) held the promise of near Mach 3 speeds at altitudes likely exceeding 60,000 ft. (18,000 m), and was intended to serve as the Royal Canadian Air Force’s (RCAF) primary interceptor in the 1960s and beyond.^[4]

Not long after the 1958 start of its flight test program, the development of the Arrow (including its Orenda Iroquois jet engines) was abruptly and controversially halted before the project review had taken place, sparking a long and bitter political debate.^{[N 1][6]}

The controversy engendered by the cancellation and subsequent destruction of the aircraft in production remains a topic for debate among historians, political observers and industry pundits. “This action effectively put Avro out of business and its highly skilled engineering and production personnel scattered.

(via senior-crown)

for-all-mankind:

Model of an Apollo Application Programme vehicle which would have utilized the descent stage of the Lunar module to bring a long-distance Lunar rover to the surface. AAP would have relied heavily on the flexibility of the LM, interchanging the ascent stage with scientific instruments, rovers, experiments, and shelters.

There’s a nice book that explains in detail the AAP programme, and each of the landers. I don’t have it with me at my dorm, but it’s at my home library. It’s called The Lunar Exploration Scrapbook by Robert Godwin.

paraparaparadigm:

for-all-mankind:

Some say that you’ll never know what I became because of you. Others say that, some time in the last few months, one person died and another one took his place. Others still suggest that nothing happened at all. There are times when I agree with all of them, and others, with none of them.

At the end of the day, we are who we are. We are but the summation of our experiences, our thoughts, our dreams. There are a million possible lives, a mission possible outcomes, and the energy of even trying to live two is enough to implode our minds. Only thoughts can cross the immense void between realities, and that’s why they drain us so quickly. So, think not about alternate realities, but about the current one, the one you’re living in right now, the world you can touch, for the world unseen is yet to come - the future.

Felt rather insightful this afternoon. No particular reason, just a swell day for it.

Who made this?

senior-crown:

A look at what might have been (using Orbiter 2010).

crookedindifference:

Teleoperator Retrieval System (TRS), 1979

This TRS spacecraft is illustrated being used to re-boost the Skylab space station to a higher orbit. An early Space Shuttle flight would have boosted Skylab to a higher orbit, adding five years of operational life. The TRS (which was on contract with Martin Marietta for $26 million) contained about three tons of propellant, remote-control capabilities with TV cameras and was designed for duties such as space construction and servicing and retrieving satellites the shuttle could not reach. After rescuing Skylab, the TRS would have remained in orbit for future use. Alternatively, it could have been used to de-orbit Skylab for a safe, controlled re-entry and destruction.

However, development of the Shuttle was delayed, and Skylab reentered Earth’s atmosphere and disintegrated in 1979, with debris striking portions of Western Australia.

(via lightthiscandle)

senior-crown:

averageoriginal:

Just got a huge burst of patriotic pride.

Oh Canada!

Where have you gone, beautiful Arrow?

The Arrow!

(via shuttleisland)

asonlynasacan:

Today’s swag.

On the left - I was also blessed to meet MOL astronaut Al Crews, who is AWESOME. He signed my Titan IIIC print!

Sweet!

for-all-mankind:

It’s been relatively common knowledge that the Gemini capsules were considered for Lunar Landings in the event the Apollo programme got delayed, and has been one of the great “what if’s” of the space race. However, a much more ambitious but little known idea was hatched in 1963 to send a manned Gemini capsule to Mars,  perform a landing, and not even a week later return to Earth.

This was a 1963 GE proposal for a 2-man expedition to Mars. A single NERVA engine with jettisonable fuel tanks provided propulsion for the round trip. Crew quarters and a “storm cellar” were provided just aft of the Gemini lander.

Attaining Mars obit, the crew transferred into the “Winged Gemini”. The lander’s engine was used to de-orbit followed by winged atmospheric braking. At a low altitude (good luck guys…), the ship manuevers to a “tail-first” attitude and lands vertically using the rocket engine.

After a stay of only a few days, the upper section of the lander returns to rendezvous with the main ship. The nuclear engine is again used to return to an Earth parking orbit. No mention of how the crew returns to terra firma.

The craft would first be launched into Terrestrial orbit. Then, the 22 fuel tanks would be launched and attached. At the various stages of the trip, the empty tanks would be discarded. After achieving Martian orbit, the landing vehicle would descend, land, and explore for a few days before returning to the orbiting mothership. The vehicle would then return to Earth and (presumably) land much the same way a standard Gemini would.

It’s unknown how feasible this plan would be. The fact that there would be little room for the crew to move around during their interplanetary journey, as well as an apparent lack of fuel space, consumables, and other vital items, makes us question whether or not such a voyage could actually be undertaken. At some point, I’d like to get a copy of the book that the above quote/description was taken from.

Also, a fitting 3,000th post!

Now, by “not even a week later return to Earth”, you mean that it would spend less than a week on the surface of Mars before heading back to Earth, not that the return trip would take only a week, right?

(via shuttleisland)