July 28, 1966 - Fletcher II Space Station, Low Earth Orbit
CAPCOM “Gooooood morning Fletcher! This is CAPCOM FM and I’m your host, Michael Adams! Here’s a little song to wake y’all up.”
CAPCOM plays These Boots Are Made For Walking through the speaker, Francis Neubeck sluggishly floating out of bed, while Karol Bobko is attempting to find the coffee.
Bobko “Mornin’ Francy!”
Neubeck “B- Bo, don’t ever call me that again.”
Bobko “Fine, fine. Did you move the coffee packets somewhere? I can’t find ‘em”
Neubeck “Hhmm, uhh, should just be in the cabinet?”
Bobko “Where do you think I check- Oh. Must’ve floated a bit, its right behind the cups”
Neubeck “Great, great, I'm going back to sleep.”
Bobko “You have until the coffee is done.”
CAPCOM “Hows about some news?”
Bobko “Sure, what’s happening back down there?”
Karol opens the packets of custom coffee, a mix of instant coffee and powdered milk, and places them in the specially designed cups. The cups slide into a hot water spout, while the cups themselves are designed for microgravity, essentially being advanced sippy cups.
CAPCOM “Crew of Apollo 1 just got officially selected, gonna be Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee.”
Bobko “Good for them, wonder if they could stop by!”
CAPCOM “Maybe if Spearhead could go to the Moon, otherwise they’d rather stick to their little cone.”
Bobko “Fair... Hm, I wonder, could Spearhead fit on the Sat- Oh! Coffee is done!“
Neubeck “Coffee!”
Francis floats out of bed and quickly over to Karol, snatching a cup of coffee.
Bobko “Was the extra minute worth it?”
Neubeck [Sipping] “Definitely. Oh god, this pre-packaged coffee still sucks”
CAPCOM “Well then I’ve got some good news for you! We managed to get some fresh coffee in a thermos on the resupply launch!”
Neubeck “Wh- Oh! It’s Today, today!”
CAPCOM “Should arrive around 4pm, and before then you’ve got some targets to look at. Mostly the Baikonur launch site, we’re sending up the list of sites, times, and viewing angles on the fax now.”
Neubeck “I’ve got to spacewalk to the resupply vehicle, right?”
CAPCOM “Well it doesn’t have to be Y-“
Bobko “Why would I not do it? I’m the commander?”
Neubeck “You’ve spent like twice as long as me out there!”
CAPCOM “Karol has had more training time for the AAMU, he’s our choice for this, sorry Francis.”
Neubeck “Y’all better clear up some time tomorrow for me to go out.”
CAPCOM “Lucky for you, we save all the best things for a Friday.”
The fax machine in the corner of the room stops whirring, a long printout of the planned schedule for today floating loose. The two AMSAnauts finish their coffees and get ready for hours of various observations. The hours pass slowly, staring at military sites and camera precision practice targets. There were frequent updates and conversations with CAPCOM however, and they made sure it was mostly fellow AMSAnauts. Earth was truly beautiful, but after almost two weeks of staring at it, and more on previous flights, it starts to wear thin, and the isolation really takes its toll. But it's at least easier with two people.
After the work day has mostly gone, the experimental resupply vessel approaches the station. There’s no free docking port, so the plan is for Karol Bobko to fly back and forth between the EX-REV and Fletcher II. Karol enters his deep blue spacesuit, as does Neubeck, as a precautionary measure, and he ties his tether to the interior hook. The airlock depressurises and the exterior door is opened.
Bobko “Alright, EX-REV is almost a perfect straight shot from the airlock, maybe 15 feet prograde, 150 feet away?”
CAPCOM “That’s what our instruments are showing, from the sounds of it, we should just get you to fly instead of our nav systems!”
Bobko “Permission to proceed?”
CAPCOM “We are go for EX-REV approach, all up to you.”
Bobko “Pushing off now... About two feet a second, not seeing any lateral motion... Just a few seconds away and- I’ve grabbed the handle!”
CAPCOM “Strapped to the door should be the AAMU, put that on and you can ditch the tether.”
Bobko “Got it, just confirming, we are go for free-flight?”
CAPCOM “Yep, go for free-flight. Just grab the first two containers from the EX-REV first, bring those back to the airlock. And while you’re up there, enjoy the view! You’re over the great barrier reef right now!”
Bobko “Roger, it sure is a beaut... AAMU is just as smooth as we tested... Back at the airlock now, dropping off the supplies and heading back.”
CAPCOM “Yep, flight is a bit worried, your vitals are a bit odd?”
Bobko “It is a bit hot in here, just drinking the water though, nothing too unbearable.”
CAPCOM “If you want we could cut this short after you grab another two supply bags.”
Bobko “That would be best, maybe Francis could finish bringi- th- -upplies”
CAPCOM “Hey Bobko, we’re having trouble reading you?”
Bobko “AAMU is- -lly hot, I think its bu-“
Neubeck “Karol? What’s happening??”
Bobko “THE- MU I- LOST PROPULSION, I CA-”
CAPCOM “Bobko?!”
Neubeck “BO??”
Bobko “USE T- MMU! RES-UE”
Neubeck “CAPCOM I’M GOING OUT THERE”
CAPCOM “Understood, get Karol back in!”
Neubeck “Exiting Fletcher now, using the origin MMU to- I see Karol, he’s drifting and- OH SHIT-”
CAPCOM “Neubeck? ... Bobko? ... Please respond.”
Neubeck “THIS IS NEUBECK, WE NEED AN EMERGENCY DEPARTURE RIGHT NOW!”
CAPCOM “P-Please repeat, Fletcher?”
Neubeck “WE NEED AN EMERGENCY DEPARTURE RIGHT NOW!”
CAPCOM “Where are the departure codes for today?”
Neubeck “THEY WEREN’T IN THE FAX, I DON’T KNOW!”
FLOPCOM “Adams, Constitution just separated from Fletcher- And the codes are right here!”
CAPCOM “Roger, FLOPCOM. Fletcher, this is a real bad time for an emergency landing. Only candidate landing site would be in the Azores, and we don’t have an agreement with them- Oh, oh hold on... We might be able to get you to land at RAF Upper Heyford! Putting on FLOPCOM
FLOPCOM “You’ll have a burn in T-19:58, with reentry somewhere around T-47:20. Be warned though, you’ll have to do a pretty hard turn.”
Neubeck “Make sure there’s already an ambulance on the ground there. Bobko had a fire in his suit, we depressurised it to extinguish the flames, and he's unconscious right now, likely suffering from the bends.”
SURGEON “CAPCOM, did he just say a fire?”
FLOPCOM “The suits have a pure oxygen interior, that’s highly flammable. But there's plenty of thermal blankets and triple redundant systems-”
SURGEON “Bobko should get into another suit, that's the closest thing to a hyperbaric chamber they’ve got up there, and that could help.”
FLOPCOM “It could risk another-“
SURGEON “Being at a lower pressure already isn’t helping, and if the suits never caught fire before, we should be willing to ‘risk’ it.”
CAPCOM “Francis, we’re recommending you fly without a suit, and put Bobko in yours. It’ll help speed up his recovery.”
Neubeck “Roger. Will contact again if the situation develops further”
SURGEON “We’d rather frequent updates on Bobko’s condition”
CAPCOM “Actually, Constitution, flight surgeon would rather receive an update around every five or ten minutes on how Karol is doing.”
Neubeck “Fair, will report back after deorbit burn, then every 5 minutes.”
Karol Bobko sits unconscious in Neubeck’s spacesuit, with Neubeck anxiously waiting for re-entry to come. The Earth outside the window turns a deep brilliant orange as sunset blankets the ocean, and Constitution crosses over into orbital night. It’s never fun performing a night landing, most missions avoid them entirely. Due to this, and in a lapse of the program’s safety, training time is minimal for practising night landings. Thankfully Neubeck is an air force man, and so is very familiar already, and well trained for landing at night. Constitution drops in altitude, beginning to feel the slowly forming plasma of re-entry, scraping against the hull. Francis looks over at Bobko, still unconscious, and turns back to the controls.
The plasma fades away and Francis gets ready to land, following the visual guide that CAPCOM provided, before the runway comes into view in the distance. The spaceplane rocks back and forth, Neubeck bringing it in as carefully as possible, lowering to 300, 200, 100 feet, the runway just ahead, rushing below. The back wheels make contact, then the front wheel, screeching as the vehicle slows down- one of the back wheels snaps, causing the entire vehicle to list to the side. Neubeck has hardly a second to react before the starboard wing collides with the runway, breaking off while the entire vehicle rolls off the side of the runway, a mangled, flaming mess.
Emergency services quickly rush to the sordid scene of the crash, pulling Bobko out of the smouldering vehicle first, and Neubeck second - Both unconscious. They’re both taken to a nearby hospital to be treated for their respective injuries, while all hell breaks loose at AMSA management. Constitution was irreparably damaged, and Independence, with its passive docking port, couldn’t dock with Fletcher. “Independence can still perform missions by itself” some said, but it was deemed too unsafe to use the spacesuits until the issue was found. It took over a week for the issue to be discovered, by which time Neubeck had recovered and returned to the US. An internal conference was held to discuss the issues and future of the program, featuring a report on the incident.
Oh- Sorry Richard, we’ve got to cut this interview short, we have breaking news. Live from the White House, we have a live televised speech from William Scranton, President of the United States.
“Ladies and gentlemen. Today, I had planned on a diplomatic envoy to Taiwan, but the events of today have led me to postpone these plans. Following an incident on orbit, our Spearhead spaceplane was forced to make an emergency landing in the United Kingdom. Upon landing, Constitution rolled over, critically injuring the two Astronauts. Tonight, we hold them in our hearts, and pray for their recovery. Karol Bobko, and Francis Neubeck, have to be some of the bravest people in our great country. We will all be here to support them. We will continue to explore space, furthering mankind’s vision into the cosmos, and keep their nobility forever in our hearts as a beacon of aspiration. If you two are listening right now, America, all 180 million of us, are thinking of you tonight. God bless you all.”
August 2, 1966 - Washington D.C., United States
Harold Brown “Karol had done everything perfectly, and the AAMU and spacesuit had caused the entire accident to occur. The AAMU exhausted hot gas as a means of propulsion, and the thermal control was insufficient to cope. This caused a small fire within the AAMU, causing it to cease functioning, and this heat transferred into the spacesuit. Slowly at first, then a small spark ignited, quickly encompassing the entire internal atmosphere. This happened while Neubeck was seconds away, so Bobko vented his suit’s pressure, extinguishing the flame, knowing that Neubeck could get him back inside the airlock fast enough. Some of you may consider this to have been a foolish action, but if Bobko had acted slower, or done anything differently, he would’ve died right there. After this, it became evident that the day’s emergency abort sequences had failed to be sent in the morning fax, a breach in normal protocol. Then during landing, as you all know, Constitution crashed. A review of the previous post-flight inspection makes it clear that testing was insufficient to catch most faults in the vehicle. The rear port wheel's joints had fatigued severely, as did the heat panel protecting the wheel from reentry. For every single part of this incident, the astronauts were not at fault. They did everything perfectly, and had they not acted as they did, the both of them would be dead right now.”
Reporter “Can you comment on the future of AMSA?”
Brown “The future is as unclear as ever. With Constitution unusable, with Fletcher and Independence effectively unusable as well, most of our agency’s programs have to be cancelled, as the construction of another Spearhead, or modifications to the spacesuits or Independence, would cost more than our budget provides. Some talks have been had with NASA over the absorption of our program, especially our Seafarer planetary probes. Interest has also been shown for the Arcturus launch vehicle. NASA has used it in the past, but this would give total control.”
Reporter “What would that mean for the jobs of everyone at AMSA?”
Brown “Nothing is finalised as of now, but the hope is that you will all have the opportunity to transfer directly to NASA.”
Reporter “Can you comment on the health of Karol Bobko?”
Brown “Not at this time, no.”
The conference wrapped up, and talks with NASA were finalised. Harold Brown, current director of AMSA, would be brought over as head of the “National Protection Wing” of NASA, where NOTSNIC and other AMSA programs would be continued. One of their first goals was in fact the production of a new type of ASAT, one to be more accurate and reliable than the previous versions.
September 8, 1966 - Cape Canaveral, Florida
Heralding the true last steps before Apollo begins its lunar conquest, Lunar Orbiter 1 is sent to the Moon. It places itself in lunar orbit, gazing across the cratered surface for over a month, imaging planned landing sites, Surveyor landing sites, and the area around known Mechta landing sites. Although the spacecraft only had a short life, it served its program very well.
September 11, 1966
Karol Bobko, after almost two months of recovery, was permitted to leave the hospital. He wasn’t in perfect health yet, his legs had yet to heal, and could take over a year to do so, but he could at least leave. Although it was too late to change anything, he lamented over the cancellation of Spearhead, and AMSA as a whole, speaking out that the program was a valuable service, and advanced the knowledge of spaceflight in general. With the absorption of AMSA however, all of its workers and astronauts were given the option to work at NASA, which most would take up, including Bobko and Neubeck. Bobko would assist with mission architecture and the manned spaceflight, and Neubeck was accepted into a brand new class of astronauts, the “Tycho Twenty”
September 21, 1966 - Cape Canaveral, Florida
The tenth, and the second-last flight of Gemini performs just as expected, completing another rendezvous with Agena, and boosting into a High Earth Orbit for a few days. William Anders performed 3 spacewalks, and David Scott performed 2.
October 1, 1966 - NASA Manned Spaceflight Centre
Shepard “I’ll cut to the point, you’re all busy with training, but there might be some changes to Gemini XI.”
Bassett “Changes?”
Cooper “We’re not being scrapped for Apollo, right?”
Shepard “The opposite! We want to send you two to the Moon.”
Silence falls over the cramped office room, Gordon and Charles processing what Alan just told them. A flurry of questions spawned in their heads, all of which were answered before they could even speak
Shepard “Just after y’all launch, you’ll rendezvous with a Centaur launched the previous day. Same as docking to an Agena.”
Cooper “And then we-“
Shepard “Fire the engines at just the right time to send you on a trajectory that’ll bring you around the Moon and back to Earth.”
Bassett “Why wasn’t this the plan from the start?”
Shepard “We didn’t want Apollo to get cancelled, but it's far enough into development now that we can do this.”
Bassett “I’ll say, the first is launching in four months!”
Cooper “And so why is this the plan now?”
Shepard “I had some intelligence passed down to me, and I have permission to share it with you two as well, that the reds are almost ready to launch their own flight.”
Bassett “My god, they are?”
Shepard “They did that month-long spaceflight a few months ago, and their new rocket-“
Alan Shepard slides an aerial photo onto the desk, showing a large rocket, unknown to them, called the N1. A gargantuan beast, standing tall on its den
Shepard “-Well, it’s just about ready to fly. Signs of fuelling operations, and a stand for test-firing the entire stage at once are in heavy use.”
Cooper “And so... We’re going around the Moon early, to beat the Soviets?”
Shepard “Yep. You’re still launching November 15, I’ve already called your families to tell them you’ll be home a lot less for the next month.”
Bassett “Shit...”
October 14, 1966 - Cape Canaveral, Florida
In the midst of all this lunar craze, the second Lunar Orbiter mission placed itself into orbit, photographing future landing sites for Apollo and the upcoming Surveyor Block II landers. These landers would lead to America’s first moon rover, planned to launch in just around a year, should all go well.
November 15, 1966 - Gemini XI, Low Earth Orbit
Cooper “Alright, Houston, we’re holding about 20 feet out from Centaur, are we go for docking?”
CAPCOM “Roger, Verne, you are go for docking with Centaur.”
The time was finally upon the crew of Gemini XI, on the spacecraft they had named Verne. Docking with the Centaur stage placed in orbit, the crew prepared to conduct the trans-lunar injection. Charles Bassett gets the honour of activating the engine, and the two of them get pushed back into their seats.
Bassett “WOO!”
Cooper “LADY LUNA HERE WE COME-“
CAPCOM “Verne, We’re-“
Bassett “ACK- the engines just cut off?”
Cooper “Centaur fuel levels are showing empty...”
Bassett “Trying to reignite now and-“
Cooper “Nothin.”
Bassett “Three seconds of engine firing ain’t getting us anywhere, is it?”
CAPCOM “No it is not. We’re actually gonna have to get y’all back down early now, your orbit goes right through the bad part of the Van Allen belts.”
Bassett “Goddamn it...”
December 11, 1966 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakh SSR
Yet again, the solar system aligns, and an angle between Earth and Mars of ~45° allows the perfect conditions for spacecraft to make the perilous journey between the two worlds. The first spacecraft to take the crossing is the Soviet Mars 5 spacecraft. The first attempt, by any nation, to land. Its target is Syrtis Major, a largely unknown area that seems to be a unique site from the limited information available. Cuddling Mars 5 is the PrOP-M rover, a small shoebox sized cube that will traverse the local terrain on skis, bounded by a 15m tether.
December 13, 1966 - Cape Canaveral, Florida
Launching two days later, an incredibly unique design from America launches. This is the Mariner-CRASH spacecraft, developed by the team at JPL, standing for Camera for Reconnaissance, Aerial Survey of Hellas. It was shaped somewhat like a bullet, with a flared skirt at the back, doubling as a communications dish. Technically a lander, though more accurately an impactor. It would take a wide photo just before entering the Martian atmosphere, then, after entering, take a high resolution photo of central Hellas. The craft was capable of surviving an impact force of up to 10,000 G’s, and after “landing”, it would take a lower resolution panorama of the horizon. This data then gets sent back to Earth over 5 days, remaining alive from internal battery power. If it succeeds, it will have been one of the most daring missions so far, and a crowning achievement of JPL.
December 15, 1966 - Cape Canaveral, Florida
Mariner 6 followed, the first planned US orbiter for the red planet. It contained a series of photographic subsystems, and instruments, all used to image and study the varied terrain of Mars, and its two moons. Along with this, it would also serve as a relay for Mariner-CRASH, intentionally designed to require a relay, to save on mass.
December 16, 1966 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakh SSR
And as the last launch for this Mars window, Mars 6 launched. This was to be an orbiter, accompanying and complimenting Mars 5. The spacecraft used a new bus, looking like a truncated Soyuz caricature. If the bus successfully performed as planned, a more advanced bus would be used for a flurry of different missions. Korolev dreamed big with this one, speaking of asteroids and Mercury and the outer planets.
February 14, 1967 - Kennedy Space Centre, Florida
FIDO “Houston, we are all go for launch.”
Grissom “All go here as well.”
CAPCOM “Roger, resuming the clock at T-60 seconds.”
Bassett “Just take her up, make sure she works right, and bring her down.”
White “She’s got a name.”
Bassett “Sorry, sorry. Clipper.”
CAPCOM “T-20 seconds.”
White “Here we go!”
Bassett “Nobody fall out!”
CAPCOM “All engines running! We have liftoff!”
Grissom “YEAH! NOW THIS IS A ROCKET!”
Chaffee “All systems are looking good! Looks like we’re going all the way to orbit!”
White “Y’all have made a fine vehicle! Ride is already smoothin’ out!”
Apollo 1 was well on its way to Low Earth Orbit, the first crewed test flight of the Apollo Command Module, and the true beginning of the Apollo program. “Clipper” performed perfectly, and a short burn of its engine boosted it into a higher orbit. A series of short experiments were run, but most importantly, the spacecraft itself was verified. Everything ran just as expected, everything responded accordingly, and it was decided to test one final component. Gus Grissom opened the door.
Grissom “Now ain’t that somethin...”
Bassett “Never gets old.”
White “Good news, Houston, Gus can still fit in a spacesuit!”
Grissom “And I’ll still fit when I’m 80!”
White “Gus Grissom, king of Mars.”
Bassett “Only Mars?”
CAPCOM “Clipper is nearing orbital night-“
Grissom “I can see that, it’s beautiful!”
CAPCOM “-So if you could please get back in the capsule?”
Grissom “When I’m king of Mars, I’ll get my revenge!”
Gus Grissom can be seen clenching his fist on the camera
CAPCOM “Hope I can make it up to you.”
The door closes, and Clipper repressurises, bringing an end to the first EVA of the Apollo program. The spacecraft remains in orbit for another two days before being commanded to reenter. Gus Grissom, Ed White, and Roger Chaffee all sit within the capsule as the thick sheet of plasma erupts outside. It quickly dissipates, allowing the capsule to deploy its parachutes, softly landing in the ocean, and completing the first mission of Apollo. And the next year would bring some of the largest shocks to the program, and the nation, as a whole.
- INTERLUDE -
- PART TWO -
February 18, 1967 - Cape Canaveral, Florida
In the wake of Apollo 1, all eyes turned towards the moon, and the efforts to get there. NASA’s Surveyor program had been popular before, but now it was all around the news. And the first launch of Surveyor Block II was seen by millions. An all new design featuring improved engines, stronger landing legs, and a reinforced frame, all allowing for more surface payload capacity. The first one targets Mare Orientale, a massive crater on the limb of the moon, and a geologically fascinating area. The spacecraft descends, sending back live photos during the descent, until it unexpectedly dips behind a tall mountain. Being on the very limb of the moon, direct communications are tenuous at best, and this mountain just cut off all comms to Earth. It wasn’t a total loss of course, and it could have potentially landed, but it wasn’t a good sign. They had gotten too confident, and taken too large of a risk. Despite this, they still had one lifeline; Lunar Orbiter 3.
February 26, 1967 - Low Lunar Orbit
Lunar Orbiter 3 entered Lunar orbit just a few weeks after Surveyor II-I landed, and could potentially save the mission. In preparation for Apollo Lunar missions, the newest orbiters had been fitted with a “short” range comms system, able to talk to compatible systems within 1000 nautical miles. Surveyor II-I was one of these compatible vehicles. First, LO3 photographed its landing site, showing it had landed perfectly. Next time around, commands were uplinked from Houston, then downlinked to Surveyor. It transmitted its data up to LO3, which relayed it back to Earth. And at last, Surveyor’s first images and discoveries were returned -
One of these, a panorama, showed Earth just barely peeking over the side of a mountain, meaning direct comms could be possible, if only for a short time each day. It would have to wait until after the treacherous lunar night-time, normally a day away, but brought upon earlier from the long shadows spilling out from the crater rim.
April 5, 1967 - Cape Canaveral, Florida
CAPCOM “T-2 Minutes.”
Schweickart “Everybody comfy?”
Scott “As can be!”
Schweickart “What about the leader of the silver medallists?”
McDivitt “I’m worse after that remark.”
Schweickart “Well I’ll just shut up the next few minutes then.”
McDivitt “You’d better.”
CAPCOM “Ignition sequence start, 10, 9- All engines running- 6, 5- Main sequence go- 3, 2, 1, Liftoff.”
Scott “WOW!”
Schweickart “LOOK AT US GO!”
McDivitt “Houston, we are flying high and feeling good!”
Scott “We might not be, but it sure feels like we’re goin’ all the way to the moon!”
Apollo 2, along with Jim McDivitt, David Scott, and Rusty Schweickart, found itself in Low Earth Orbit. This was to be a second test of the major systems, proving once and for all that the spacecraft was ready to be transferred to the Moon. All systems appeared to be perfect, and the mission was brought back down after 8 days, the minimum time that would be required for a Lunar Orbiting mission.
May 25, 1967
Amidst increasing tensions within the country, Mainland China officially closed its borders. Nobody is permitted to leave or enter the country without express permission from a select few individuals. Political scientists are saying that this is the start of a slow decline for the country, with sources in the country talking about potentially relocating citizens.
July 5, 1967 - Cape Canaveral, Florida
On an overcast day in Florida, Apollo 4 took to the skies as the last pre-Saturn V launch. John Young, Donn Eisele, and Richard Gordon, began their trek to a lunar transfer orbit. This wasn’t heading to the Moon however, it would test one of the abort modes, performing an emergency burn back to Earth. Without the Saturn V it couldn’t be perfectly tested, but it would be able to be emulated. After entering orbit, the capsule was pushed into an eccentric orbit, bringing it up to outside the Van Allen belts, high enough to test. The crew marvelled at being the first humans to see the Earth as a ball, taking photos of each of them in front of the capsule window. A few days later, re-entry is successfully completed, being the current fastest re-entry speed ever of a crewed vehicle.
July 6, 1967 - Interplanetary Space, approaching Mars
It was a decent day in Baikonur, partially cloudy skies, a nice breeze blowing in, and hopes were held high. In the distance, tens of millions of miles from home, a lone electronic emissary casts her digital eyes upon a lone shape in the all-encompassing sky. Mars. A beautiful deep orange world, swirling patterns of dust snaking across its atmosphere, a majestic polar cap sitting atop the world, with dark grey patches just below. One of these patches, Syrtis Major, was very special. In just under a day, Mars 5 would fly through the sky above the Syrtisian dunes, and attempt to softly touch down on another world. Mars control transmits the final commands to Mars 5 before it strikes the atmosphere, taking around 470 seconds to reach the spacecraft, now entering the uppermost layers of the atmosphere.
The thin air compresses violently against the heat shield, heating up by thousands of degrees, a bright and beautiful trail being left behind it, the first of surely many more to soon grace this world. The drag slows the vehicle down enough for real aerodynamics to come into play, a slight slant in the heat shield inducing a small amount of lift, aiding the descent, and helping with stability. The vehicle shakes as pyrotechnic fasteners detonate, pulling the parachute out and letting it deploy a few seconds later, causing another violent jolt. Mars 5 gently floats in the Martian atmosphere, drifting down ever so slowly towards the sandy surface below. No more than 2m/s, it continues to descend, the heat shield detaches, allowing the basic radar to find the distance to the surface.
To maximise the safety of the landing, retrorockets were mounted to the base of the lander, derived from the Soyuz vehicle’s. The lander was also provided with landing legs, instead of the traditional unfolding petal design. Back on Earth, communications vanished, as expected during the atmospheric entry phase, and completely unbeknownst to the entirety of Earth, Mars 5 was seconds from landing. The radar said 1 metre, and the vehicle commanded its retrorockets to fire. Only 3 of the 4 did. Mars 5 hit a large dune in Syrtis Major, part of a massive field stretching beyond the horizon, and it began to slide down. Scraping a path through the dark otherworldly sand, barely slowing down, coming to a stop around 20 metres from the edge of the dune.
She opened her eyes, taking the first photograph of the Martian surface, and once transmitted back, it was dismal. Just a sand field, a long trail left as the lander slid across. The secondary camera snapped its photo and- it was a magnificent landscape of hills and volcanic sediment, and an expansive dune field. This was a view like none other in the solar system, a beautiful combination of marvels to produce one of the prettiest sites ever photographed - and Mars, and the entire solar system, was sure to have many more. Mars 5 was still sending Earth back more surprises, for it had a special partner. PrOP-M. A small rover on a leash, Mars 5’s pet dog, eagerly exploring in a 15 metre radius around the lander. Treading across the rough sand on skis, stopping to take a photo every 50cm, and avoiding the occasional rock too large to step over, using a novel avoidance system.
July 10, 1967 - Interplanetary Space, approaching Mars
Following right behind Mars 5, was America’s Mariner-CRASH spacecraft. Intentionally designed to be as compact and resistant as possible, its communications had to be relayed through Mariner 6, and there was no real landing system. One hour until impact, the interplanetary cruise stage separates, containing the orientation systems, along with the solar panels. For the next fifty minutes, the spacecraft silently glides within the orbit of Deimos, passing incredibly close to Phobos, within 50km, though the cameras weren’t activated yet. Then, the spacecraft strikes the atmosphere. The craft’s heat shield protects the internals from the incredibly hot plasma, just outside the skin. The violence outside decreases as the ship slows down, and its spherical parachute deploys, pulling the ship back, just before impact.
The cameras snap another image, and seconds later, the vehicle impacts the surface at 60 m/s. Firmly within tolerances. Over the next few days it slowly transmits its three images back to Earth, via Mariner 6, and the images are astounding. Craters dotting the landscape as expected, but intercut with strange features called “tongues”, theorised to be glaciers of ice covered by dust. And that ice might be water ice. Mars could have water after all.
July 13, 1967 - Interplanetary Space, approaching Mars
The third approaching spacecraft of this transfer window, Mars 6, dares to skim the atmosphere, and try to enter orbit. Its panels catch the thin upper atmospheric air, and at the same time a small engine burn occurs, aiding in the orbital insertion. Mars 6 dips behind its namesake, and the Soviet controllers wait in suspense as the spacecraft, several minutes later, emerges from behind the rugged limb of Mars. The signal’s doppler shift is measured, it does appear to be in orbit! Though, not a spectacular one - the atmosphere provided less deceleration than was hoped, leading to a very loose orbit, an apoareion of almost 5 times that of Deimos’. But nonetheless, it is an orbit, the first ever around Mars. The orbiter spends the next few weeks relaying data from the Mars 5 lander, and the next few months surveying and imaging the planet.
July 20, 1967 - Interplanetary Space, approaching Mars
Mariner 6 too approaches the red planet, conducting a similar engine burn to try and enter orbit, though without the dangerous aerocapture attempt. Slowly, the delicate vehicle slows down, Mars’ gravity having more and more effect on it, until the engines shut down. NASA waits several hours to confirm that Mariner 6 is now in orbit of Mars, a fantastic 8200x8100km orbit, entirely within Phobos’ orbit, and nearly a perfect circle. The spacecraft, with her fantastic photographic eyes, scans across the surface of Mars in hundreds of successive passes, complimenting Mariner-CRASH’s photos of Hellas Planitia, and mapping the entire sub-polar regions to within 300m resolution. With this window concluded, the time was now to truly plan for the next generation of Mars missions; the Voyager program. Multiple large orbiters, landers, rovers, and potentially a sample return mission, launching on the iconic rockets of today, Arcturus and Saturn V. The age of exploration has returned.
August 18, 1967 - Above Tycho Crater, Luna
Back within the Earth-Moon system, a pair of rival landers begin their descents on separate days. First is Mechta-13, carefully descending towards the majestic Tycho Crater, carrying a small platform of experiments; A TV Camera, spectrometers, a small sample analysis arm, and a seismometer. Its landing legs grace the dusty regolith surface, commanding an automatic shut-off to its engines, and beginning the science phase of the mission. The samples were carefully observed with live observations, controlled by Soviet geologists on Earth. Interesting rocks were photographed, given endearing names, and studied in immense detail. To try and stretch this mission as far as it could go, it had a very special power source - an RTG, powering and heating the spacecraft with radioactive decay. This power keeps it living and functioning through lunar night, and the next night, and the next. Mechta-13 survives until December 30, 1967, a full 4 months after landing. With this, the USSR’s space program is confident enough to send their next ambitious mission, an independent rover, and a sample return spacecraft. If everything could be done in time, they could return rocks from the moon without human assistance, opening up a wide area of geological sites to retrieve from, otherwise impossible due to latitude constraints.
August 19, 1967 - Stevinus Crater, Luna
The other lander is the American Surveyor II-II, planting itself firmly on the foothills of Stevinus Crater’s central peak. It carries similar experiments to Mechta-15, with the exception of a radioactive power source. Surveyor II-II survives for just over a month, dying near the next lunar sunset. In that time, multiple nearby sites are photographed, and to conduct even more science, a short range hop is conducted, sending Surveyor closer to the mountain than it would’ve ever tried to land originally. She lands on a 20 degree slope, slightly past the tolerable limit, but she stays strong. Unique samples of previously unseen rock types are taken, and observed with care. For the geologists assigned to this mission, it was a marvellous surprise, one that may require Apollo to make further observations, with people on the scene itself.
August 25, 1967 - Soyuz 9, Low Earth Orbit
Makarov “Range is 20 metres, holding position.”
Kubasov “Fuel margin at 28%”
FLYCON “Proceed with LK docking”
Makarov “Proceeding.”
Kubasov “Probe is released, ready for dock.”
Makarov “Contact!”
Kubasov “Yes! Contact! Deploying probe, the spacecraft are now locked together.”
FLYCON “Fantastic! We see docking confirmed as well! All systems show little deviation.”
Makarov “I’m sure it’ll be much better when this is done around the Moon.”
FLYCON “Little steps. If both of you are happy with this run, we can return you.”
Kubasov “Are we able to stay longer?”
FLYCON “You should have 5 days of food and supplies left, but for safety, 2 days is the most we can allow.”
Kubasov “You want another 2 days up here?”
Makarov “Would I be human if I said no?”
Soyuz 9 had just completed two daring firsts. The first docking of the Soviet space program, and the first crewed flight of the new Soyuz LOK, and LK lander. These would be used for their initial lunar landing, until a larger lander is completed, currently due in 1973. With this, it is now known that the spacecraft can truly perform as intended. Docking can be accomplished, and the engines can fire reliably and repeatedly. Soyuz 9 is brought back down 2 days later, and Oleg Makarov and Vasili Kubasov get to forever be the first crew, and first humans, to inhabit a lunar-destined vehicle.
September 19, 1967 - Cape Canaveral, Florida
Sitting atop an Atlas Centaur, ready for launch, is the wonderful Explorer 35. Designed by the Lewis Research Centre, spearheaded by Harold Kaufman, it was to be the first true electrical propulsion spacecraft. Three mercury-fuelled ion engines, powered by an improved SNAP-10B nuclear reactor. This would be no feeble tech demonstration, but a radiation-hardened ferry to the Moon, for Explorer 35 planned to enter lunar orbit. Project Manager Raymond Rulis, along with the entire team for designing and building the spacecraft, sat in the viewing area, watching their beloved spacecraft shoot off into the heavens. Several hours later, Explorer had reached LEO, and all systems were stable. 35’s mission control was filled with excitement, for it was time to activate the engines. A brilliant blue glow lit up the spacecraft, being pushed ever so slowly towards the moon, beginning its year long journey.
October 2, 1967 - Low Lunar Orbit
Lunar Orbiter 4 continues the steady stream of lunar reconnaissance missions needed for Apollo, its deadline rapidly approaching. It focuses on the Sea of Tranquility, as well as photographing the landing sites of Surveyor landers, and the impacts of Ranger spacecraft.
October 5, 1967 - Baikonur Cosmodrome, Kazakh SSR
At Baikonur, a massive rocket named Proton stands its ground, fighting against the cruel storm raging around it. Within its fairing is a marvel of engineering, and a beacon of the hope for centuries of future exploration - Mayak-1. A small central bus, a 1 metre wide, 1.5 metre tall cylinder, topped with a large deployable antenna, and surrounded with 8 spheres filled with propellant, feeding the small attitude control thrusters. Providing the many instruments with power is a small Radioisotope Thermoelectric Generator, an RTG, on a 2m deployable truss, extending after launch to make room inside the upper interstage. Mounted on the top of the truss, on opposite sides, are two small spheres made of titanium, a small explosive charge in the centre of each. These are almost identical to the design used for Mechta 2, and are planned to be deployed before the two major moon encounters, at Europa and Io. Mayak-1 is going to Jupiter. It plans to fly past on the Fourth of July, 1969, And after that, it continues on to Neptune.
In a bold display of confidence, this launch is televised across the nation, and picked up by several networks across the globe, noting the rarity of the USSR displaying its rockets. Half an hour from launch, the rocket feed cuts to two people sitting at a table, surrounded by screens and a lit up blackboard next to them. The man on the left is simply referred to as the “Project Designer”, his real identity concealed for safety. He is Arkady Ilyich Ostashev, a close friend of Sergei Korolev. He speaks of helping to build Sputnik, and Vostok, and as a young child, dreaming of exploring the planets. The other man is Nikolai Semyonovich Kardashev, able to captivate the public, he spoke about the spacecraft, the Proton rocket, and basic orbital mechanics.
Western hosts speculated on what this launch could be, proposing that they could be missions to Mars or Venus, though the more science-savvy ones knew neither of those planets were aligned for transfers. Some grew concerned when “Nuclear Power” was mentioned, but they reasoned that if this had any military function, they wouldn’t be sharing it, would they? The countdown hits one minute to launch, and the cameras return to the rocket standing proud on the pad, beginning to climb into the brilliant night sky. Several minutes pass, and confirmation is given that the rocket has reached orbit. Kardashev excitedly announces that orbit has been achieved, and that the injection burn is now underway. He picks up the chalk and begins drawing on the chalkboard, drawing a fast layout of the solar system, where he draws a trajectory from Earth, curving around Jupiter and Neptune.
“To all the viewers, Soviet and across the world, Our nation is going to Jupiter, and Neptune! We shall reach the surface of Jupiter’s two closest large moons, and Neptune’s largest moon as well. Let this day be remembered by all, and know this is just the start of the glorious age of interplanetary flight.”