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Von Braun Mars Expedition - 1969
Part of American Mars Expeditions

MEM

MEM
Credit: NASA

American manned Mars expedition. Study 1969. Von Braun's final vision for a manned expedition to Mars was a robust plan that eliminated much of the risk of other scenarios. Two ships would fly in convoy from earth orbit to Mars and back.

Status: Study 1969. Thrust: 1,733.80 kN (389,774 lbf). Gross mass: 726,000 kg (1,600,000 lb). Unfuelled mass: 182,000 kg (401,000 lb). Specific impulse: 850 s. Height: 82.00 m (269.00 ft). Diameter: 10.06 m (33.00 ft).

They were entirely reusable for future expeditions, the only element being expendable being the Mars Excursion Module used to visit the planet's surface. This was Von Braun's last attempt to convince the American government to finance his dream. Five months later he would be sidelined to a dead-end headquarters job at NASA, and leave the Agency two years after that.

The successful landing on the moon of Apollo 11 brought a brief period of political enthusiasm for manned spaceflight. A new Space Task Group was formed to recommend a post-Apollo manned space program. On 4 August 1969 NASA Administrator Paine briefed the Space Task Group, with Vice President Agnew chairing, on Marshall's proposed post-Apollo integrated plan. Von Braun briefed the plan for a manned expedition to Mars as a follow-on to Apollo. The Integrated Plan foresaw first flight of a manned space shuttle by 1975, an earth orbit space station soon thereafter, with production and improvement of the Saturn V continuing, and the NERVA nuclear thermal upper stage completing development. All of these projects would mean a Mars spacecraft like that proposed by Boeing in 1969 could be developed, with the only new unique hardware being the Mars Excursion Module (the Mission Module would be one of the modules already proven on the earth orbit station). Testing in earth orbit of the first Mars Excursion Module would begin in 1978, with the first Mars landing coming in 1982.

Von Braun had tweaked his original Mars Expedition scenario between 1952 and 1956 to halve the size of his original Mars expedition spacecraft. He used the same methods in 1969 to come up with Mars spacecraft under half the mass of Boeing's 1968 IMIS. This allowed two Mars expedition spacecraft to travel in convoy on the mission together, providing Von Braun's preferred mutual support and back-up. The Nuclear Shuttles used for propulsion were essentially the same as Boeing's Primary Propulsion Modules, and had 38 metric tons less propellant. But due to lower delta-V's at Mars orbit, only three of the NERVA Primary Propulsion Modules (now called Nuclear Shuttles) were needed per spacecraft as opposed to five in Boeing's study. The spacecraft consists, from fore to aft:

The mission profile was as follows:

The Mars spacecraft itself would refurbished via shuttle flights, two additional PPM stages attached, the whole thing resupplied and refueled, in readiness for further expeditions to Mars in 1983, 1986, and 1988 - leading to a 50-person Mars base by 1989. With the exception of the MEM, all of the spacecraft was reused. Von Braun estimated this colonization of Mars within 20 years could be accomplished with a peak NASA budget of $ 7 billion per year. This robust, relatively safe plan was the culmination of 20 years of Mars mission planning by the Peenemuende team and took full advantage of the other space infrastructure elements in NASA's master plan. It offered the possibility for Von Braun to witness his long-held dream of a manned expedition to Mars in his lifetime.

The Space Task Group made its final report on 15 September 1969, recommending the whole vast infrastructure envisioned by Von Braun. It was not to be -- every element of the NASA plan, except for a much-compromised space shuttle design, would be stripped away by Nixon's budget office. There was no public support for such a grand scheme. The view of Mars as a seemingly barren, lifeless, and uninteresting world in any case was reinforced by the Mariner 7 mission which flew by the planet the day after Von Braun's presentation was made. His ultimate dream crushed, Von Braun was sidelined to a headquarters post at NASA seven months later. He left NASA in 1972 and died in 1977.

Von Braun Mars Expedition - 1969 Mission Summary:



Family: Mars Expeditions. People: von Braun. Country: USA. Engines: Nerva-1. Spacecraft: MEM, PPM, Planetary Mission Module. Propellants: Nuclear/LH2. Bibliography: 49, 591.
Photo Gallery

Mars 69Mars 69
Credit: NASA


Mars 69Mars 69
Credit: NASA


Mars 1969 MMMars 1969 MM
Credit: NASA



1966 April 15 - .

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