In the days after the Apollo 11 moon landing, anything seemed possible. This
article in the July 25, 1969, issue of
Time magazine had Americans landing on Mars as early as 1982.
__________________________________________________________________
Friday, Jul. 25, 1969
NEXT, MARS AND BEYONDEVEN as man prepared to take his first tentative extraterrestrial steps,
other celestial adventures beckoned him. The shape and scope of the
post-Apollo manned space program remained hazy, and a great deal
depends on the safe and successful outcome of Apollo 11. But well
before the moon flight was launched, NASA was casting eyes on targets
far beyond the moon. The most inviting: the earth's close, and probably
most hospitable, planetary neighbor. Given the same energy and
dedication that took them to the moon, says Wernher von Braun,
Americans could land on Mars as early as 1982
Mustering the necessary zeal—not to mention the political and budgetary
support—may be more difficult than mastering the technology. NASA has
no plans yet for any manned expeditions beyond the moon, largely
because of its inability to wrest more funds from a Congress whose
members are already divided over the $24 billion tab for Apollo. Last
week, as head of a task force on future U.S. space objectives, Vice
President Spiro Agnew said the nation should aim for a manned Martian
landing by the end of the century. But Agnew conceded that the other
members of the panel might be more cautious about a manned Martian
expedition.
With sufficient funds, NASA intends to launch nine more Apollo flights
to the moon in the next three years. Lofted by the same powerful Saturn
5 boosters that have been Apollo's workhorses, U.S. astronauts will
range over increasingly rugged areas. The scheduled Apollo 12 flight in
November will take them to the Ocean of Storms. On subsequent missions,
they will touch down near the Crater Censorinus, the Sea of Serenity,
the Crater Tycho and finally such forbidding abysses as the craters
Aristarchus and Copernicus.
As the lunar expeditions become more ambitious, so will their hardware.
NASA is now improving the life-support systems in the lunar module to
allow visits to the moon of up to three days by 1970. The agency is
also developing more flexible space suits and designing a small
rocket-propelled "lunar flyer."
NASA also hopes to keep its manned space effort alive by using surplus
Saturn 4B rockets—which now serve as the third stage of the Apollo
launch vehicle—for earth-orbiting flights. This effort, dubbed the
Apollo Applications Program, will begin in 1971 with a 28-day flight by
three men—one a doctor. These vehicles are only forerunners of a giant
space station that NASA plans to orbit by the late 1970s. The first
station will probably accommodate twelve people, including the first
American spacewoman. It will remain aloft for at least ten years, with
crew members rotated every six months.
Mapping the Red Planet
At the same time, NASA will
attempt increasingly complex unmanned probes. Two unmanned Mariner
spacecraft will soon pass within 2,000 miles of Mars and radio back
enough close-up photographs to map about 20% of the Martian surface. In
1973, other Martian orbiters will eject two instrument-packed capsules
for soft landings on Mars.
Mars, however, is only one of NASA's planetary targets—and a relatively
close one at that. In 1972, the space agency will send two Pioneer
spacecraft on a flyby of Jupiter, largest planet in the solar system. A
year later, another Mariner will try the first multiple-planet probe.
After a sweep of Venus, it will use the Venusian gravity to boost
itself on toward Mercury, the sun's closest and smallest satellite. In
the late 1970s, the so-called "outer planets" will be so favorably
aligned that a spacecraft passing Jupiter could use its gravity to push
on toward Saturn, Uranus and Neptune —a "grand tour" that would cover
billions of miles and take as long as ten years.
The prospects for man's first leap into the solar system will surely be
enhanced by the success of such unmanned missions. Not only will they
prove the feasibility of interplanetary travel, but they will help
arouse the public support necessary for such journeys. To be sure,
Americans will continue to agonize over the cost of the program —which
NASA says will come to no more than .5% to 1% of the gross national
product (currently running at $900 billion) a year. And the question of
priorities will remain relevant as long as such earthly imperfections
as poverty and pollution persist. Still, as Science-Fiction Writer
Isaac Asimov says, "Man has always had the other side of the hill to
worry about"—and he always will. This week the other side of the hill
is the moon. Before this century ends, it will almost certainly be Mars
—and beyond.
Recent Comments