Good job, but you neglect to mention the follow-on Apollo Lunar missions that were de-funded AFTER Apollo 20. Apollo 18,19, and 20 were already paid for and ready to go when they were cancelled at a total loss for the American Taxpayer, similar to the Constellation program that was killed off by Obama for no comprehensible reason. The demise of Apollo had little or nothing to do with the Viet Nam war. Funding "The Great Society" and now the socialist initiatives of the Obama Regime ended both.
For those interested, this "what if" scenario is wonderfully depicted in Stephen Baxter's novel "Voyage". I was actually surprised when I saw the MEM in this video - it looked exactly the same in the novel. Even the mission profile was similar, only the Venus swing-by occurred on the way in, not out.
The novel is basically an alternate history in which the US decides to go to Mars after the Apollo program ends (with Apollo 14). Three US astronauts land at Mangala Valles in 1985. Great read.
@joachim2464 Not sure it was just the money. We kept spending on NASA; we just stopped doing big manned space missions. I've been researching this a little and I think it goes like this: US needed to launch nuclear bombs into Russia, so ballistic missiles were developed. Beating the Russians to the moon was part of the propaganda war: we showed them. As soon as we got there the US no longer need to go back; instead we went on to the next phase of the cold war: more defense/economic pressure
and bolstering allies around the world. If going on to Mars were useful to the immediate needs of the government they would do it in a second. NTR propulsion would be the norm. unfortunately for us they don't need it. But remember: NASA is more or less the same expense as it used to be, yet we don't do very much. Very sad. The only recourse - and this is a long shot - is to pressure as many politicians (with SNAIL mail) as possible to embrace NTR and human space flight to the moon and Mars.
Good job, but you neglect to mention the follow-on Apollo Lunar missions that were de-funded AFTER Apollo 20. Apollo 18,19, and 20 were already paid for and ready to go when they were cancelled at a total loss for the American Taxpayer, similar to the Constellation program that was killed off by Obama for no comprehensible reason. The demise of Apollo had little or nothing to do with the Viet Nam war. Funding "The Great Society" and now the socialist initiatives of the Obama Regime ended both.
Kapindur 1 week ago
I blame Nixon for shutting down the apollo program
Joe35983 8 months ago
For those interested, this "what if" scenario is wonderfully depicted in Stephen Baxter's novel "Voyage". I was actually surprised when I saw the MEM in this video - it looked exactly the same in the novel. Even the mission profile was similar, only the Venus swing-by occurred on the way in, not out.
The novel is basically an alternate history in which the US decides to go to Mars after the Apollo program ends (with Apollo 14). Three US astronauts land at Mangala Valles in 1985. Great read.
Winner8501 1 year ago
I guess the only thinbg stopping it was the money:(
joachim2464 1 year ago 2
@joachim2464 Not sure it was just the money. We kept spending on NASA; we just stopped doing big manned space missions. I've been researching this a little and I think it goes like this: US needed to launch nuclear bombs into Russia, so ballistic missiles were developed. Beating the Russians to the moon was part of the propaganda war: we showed them. As soon as we got there the US no longer need to go back; instead we went on to the next phase of the cold war: more defense/economic pressure
Weenchit 1 year ago
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Weenchit 1 year ago
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and bolstering allies around the world. If going on to Mars were useful to the immediate needs of the government they would do it in a second. NTR propulsion would be the norm. unfortunately for us they don't need it. But remember: NASA is more or less the same expense as it used to be, yet we don't do very much. Very sad. The only recourse - and this is a long shot - is to pressure as many politicians (with SNAIL mail) as possible to embrace NTR and human space flight to the moon and Mars.
Weenchit 1 year ago