Space race to Mars in 1979 alternate timeline help, please

[Flyndaran]

1928 A meteorite strikes Lake Michigan during the Pineapple Primary. A newsreel crew covering the crowds catch the impact and subsequent tsunami-equivalent on film. This and the subsequent nightmare leaves a lasting imprint on young William Proxmire and his later political career making him very pro-space funding.

? Howard Jarvis dies in an auto accident possibly drunk

? Modified Baruch plan signed by all important parties.

1960, Nixon wins election

? Soviet unmanned moon landing

1964, Kennedy wins election with promises of going for Mars

? Mars slow supply ship reaches destination

1979, Mars colony lands (Just so I can keep everything solidly in TL7. For those ignorant of Gurps, 1980 is the tipping point for modern technology level 8.)

[combatmedic]

Ah, so you liked my suggestions about the Moon race, Nixon, and Kennedy?

Cool beans.

I like that you've gone as far back as 1928 with your POD.

It seems to me the earlier you start the Space Race, the better. Longer timeframe= more room for development. Mars by 1979 is very ambitious.

I wonder if it's plausible to hasten developments in rocketry during the interwar years?
WW2 might reach the same ends, but with rockets playing a larger role and that sooner than 1944.
I'm not suggesting you bust TL 7, only that mature TL 7 rocketry and related tech goes from theoretical to practical applications sooner than in OTL.


Question-- Do you mean an exploratory fly by/landing or an actual colony?
To me, the word colony suggests people actually making Mars a permanent home, living and working there, raising children.

[Flyndaran]

I suppose research outpost is more accurate than colony.
But much more than fly-by / rock grab mission like Apollo.

Though how much time is necessary to get to colony stage is anyone's guess... assuming it's even possible without significant hand-waving.

[Flyndaran]

It seems to me that pushing rocketry too fast around WW II leads to classic M.A.D. and increased nuclear W.M.D. fear not less.

[Drifter]

From the IW thread

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

The one thing my program has that modern suggestion don't is nuclear power. Cracking the water is child's play compared to issues we might not have as much of a problem with. GMO crops optimized for fully isolated ecosystems, advanced computers, and many others I can't begin to imagine

Radioisotope thermoelectric generators were developed in the late 50s. These are pellets of unstable material, currently plutonium is most commonly used, that use their internal heating to power a generator. Even without the earlier Space Race you still get them in spacecraft by 1961. In this timeline you probably have them aboard Soviet craft early in the 60s or late 50s.

[Drifter]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

It seems to me that pushing rocketry too fast around WW II leads to classic M.A.D. and increased nuclear W.M.D. fear not less.

If you don't have Edward Teller, you don't get H-bombs. Without H-bombs, you don't get MAD. You do get large fission bombs, but not big enough to wipe us all out. Or maybe you do, but maybe your leadership doesn't think that is a good idea - too many old school military leaders think you should be able to conquer an enemy, not bake the world to a crisp.

Just sayin' - Teller needs to go :)

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Drifter

If you don't have Edward Teller, you don't get H-bombs.

Anybody could have made thermonuclear weapons, it's not like Teller did it alone anyway. The Soviets had theirs not long after, and it's not clear if leaks really had anything do to with it.

[Anaraxes]

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

1964, Kennedy wins election with promises of going for Mars

You might be better off still assassinating him, or assassinating him after '64. The country then finishes out the dream which he had started, thanks to the mystique of Camelot tragically cut short. Like artists, the actual results might have been much less impressive than the hopes had Kennedy survived.

[whswhs]

If you can find von Braun's The Mars Project, it has detailed technical specifications for a mission to Mars, worked out in 1953. I read it some years ago and I remember it as a beautiful book, historical interest aside.

Bill Stoddard

[Anthony]

The big requirements for Mars are a much higher budget than the Apollo program (which was already absolutely enormous) and an extremely cavalier attitude towards the survival of your astronauts (say, half of them survive to reach Mars, none ever come home).