Introduction
We were robbed. By this point in time, we were supposed to have giant = wheel-shaped space stations, huge lunar bases in crater Clavius, and = expeditions=20 to Saturn. Instead we have a few footprints on the moon, a few kilos of = lunar=20 rock, an aging smallish space station nearing the end of its operational = life,=20 and no space shuttles. And there has not been a man on the moon since = 1972. If=20 only things had turned out a little differently.
Which leads us to the ever-popular "Alternate History" branch of = science=20 fiction. Here SF authors make small but significant changes to the flow = of=20 history, and predict the results. Some are not quite as nice places to = live,=20 some are better, but all are very different from the history we are = currently=20 living in.
As far as spacecraft based alternate history goes, most alter some = point a=20 few decades back. Exceptions include James White's THE SILENT STARS GO = BY, where=20 Hero of=20 Alexandria's aeolipile=20 survives the sack of Rome, resulting in the first starship being = launched in=20 1492.
The = Return of=20 William Proxmire
William = Proxmire,=20 for all you too young to know, was a US Senator intent on furthering his = political career by exposing what he considered wasteful government = spending=20 (see "Golden=20 Fleece Awards").
WARNING! SPOILERS!
The Return of William Proxmire
In his Hugo Award nominated short story "The = Return of William Proxmire", Larry Niven writes of Proxmire funding = the=20 development of a time machine. Proxmire's evil plan is a desperate = attempt to=20 destroy the literary genre of "science fiction" altogether. Proxmire = notes that=20 his efforts to abolish space travel are opposed by people who grew up = reading=20 science fiction in general, and the works of Robert=20 Heinlein in particular. In our time line, Heinlein was in the US = Navy but=20 was discharged in 1934 due to pulmonary tuberculosis. Proxmire travels = back in=20 time and inject Heinlein with antibiotics, ensuring that Heinlein will = stay in=20 the Navy and not become an author. Proxmire returns to the present, = snickering=20 that he has destroyed science fiction and space travel.
Boy, is he disappointed! When he returns, Dr. Andrew Minsky tells = Proxmire=20 the bad news.
Death and the Senator
This story is a rebuke of William Proxmire that is a bit more savage. = And=20 rightly so.
Arthur C. Clarke's was a big fan of J.=20 B. S. Haldane, calling Haldane "the finest intellect it has ever = been my=20 privilege to know." Clarke was quite bitter about Haldane's tragically = short=20 life due to cancer. Haldane once commented on how his life might have = been=20 prolonged by living in the microgravity environment of a space station. = Clarke=20 said this is one reason why he becomes incandescent with rage when some = utter=20 moron says money spend on aeronautic research is a waste, the money = would be=20 better spent here on Terra on something like medical = research.
Which explains Clarke's reaction to William Proxmire in general, and=20 Proxmire's targeting NASA in particular.
"Death and = the=20 Senator" features senator Martin Steelman, a thinly disguised = stand-in for=20 Proxmire. Steelman in his "relentless pursuit of power" had no time for = such=20 things as "the whole universe of art and culture", not to mention such=20 incidentals as his friends and family, where "love had been sacrificed = on the=20 alter of ambition". He had been on the Senate Committee on Astronautics = and had=20 built his reputation being a guardian of the public purse, a "hardheaded = man who=20 could not be bamboozled by Utopian scientific dreamers" of NASA. It was = not that=20 he had any particular feeling for space and science, but he knew a live = issue=20 when he saw one.
Among other things, Steelman killed a NASA project for a fifty-man = space=20 station, with a medical research lab.
Then, years later, this comes back to haunt him. Steelman, in a = routine=20 medical check-up, is diagnosed with terminal heart disease. He has only = six=20 months to live.
As Steelman is winding up his affairs and writing his last will and=20 testament, one of his political opponents shows him some interesting = news. The=20 USSR had created a huge space station years ago; Mechnikov Station, the=20 Satellite Hospital. They have discovered the microgravity environment of = the=20 station can arrest the progress of Steelman's heart disease, maybe even = cure=20 it.
The Russians are only too happy to consider Steelman to be admitted = to the=20 Satellite Hospital. What a propaganda coup!
However, Steelman has a rude awakening.
Before departing, he discovers the huge waiting list of patients who = need to=20 go to the Satellite Hospital. Many of whom are quite young. Steelman = jumping to=20 the head of the line means one of them will die. It is quite a pity the=20 Satellite Hospital has such limited patient space. If only NASA had = built their=20 own space station, there would be room for more patients. But alas, = NASA's=20 station had been axed by some senator named Steelman.
In the story Steelman at least has the decency to do the right thing: = giving=20 up his slot in the Satellite Hospital and going back home to die in six=20 months.
Torch War
The man who goes by the name Grimjier of Hobby=20 FuZion is working on a tabletop game played with little plastic = spaceships=20 called "Legend of Sol: Torch War". This is set in an alternate history = where the=20 North American Space Command and the Supreme Soviet Cosmo forces battle = in space=20 in the far flung future year 1960. The early American ships are based on = the Boeing X-20=20 DynaSoar and Project=20 Gemini. The battleships are nuclear pulse Orion drive.
The plastic miniatures can be purchased from his Shapeways=20 on-line store. I recommend that you order them in the "Transparent = Detail"=20 material, the "White Strong & Flexible" has a grainy look. Once you = paint=20 the transparent detail it will be a nice crisp (opaque) model.
The actual game is still under development. You can follow recent=20 developments by monitoring the "Hobby=20 Fuzion Minatures" thread on the Starship Combat News forum.
Late news: alas, the game development appears to have stopped. = However the=20 miniatures are still available for sale.
Man Conquers = Space
Man=20 Conquers Space is an awesome movie project set in an alternate = history where=20 the Collier's Magazine "Man=20 Will Conquer Space Soon!" predictions actually came to pass. It has = it all,=20 the giant winged ferry rocket, the wheel shaped space ship, the lunar = expedition=20 of tank ships; they are all there. Just like a Chestley Bonestell = painting.
Do check out the stills=20 from the film and the movie=20 clips. My personal favorite clip is the Teaser=20 I (2001), it always brings tears to my eyes. We could have had = this.
Late news: alas, the site has vanished, which probaby means the = project is=20 dead. Looks like it vanished around March 2015. I set the links to point = to the=20 archive on the Wayback Machine.
Deep Cold
Deep=20 Cold has images from an alternate history where the Cold War between = the US=20 and the Soviet Union extended into space. All the rendered images are = based on=20 historical fact. All the spacecraft shown were planned but never flew=20 operationally (some cancelled before they left the drawing board). They=20 represent a fascinating look at what might have been.
Late news: alas, the site has vanished, which probaby means the = project is=20 dead. Looks like it vanished around December 2014. I set the links to = point to=20 the archive on the Wayback Machine.
Eyes Turned = Skyward
Rob Davidoff = has a=20 degree in Mechanical Engineering with a concentration in Aerospace. In = other=20 words, he is a rocket scientist. Ian Mitchell is a physics Ph.D. student = at the=20 University of Houston studying experimental particle physics. Together = they are=20 currently working on a fascinating alternate history of the NASA space = flight=20 program called Eyes=20 Turned Skyward. It diverges from our history at the point = where the=20 Apollo program comes to an end, and in our time line NASA decides to go = with=20 developing a space station, instead of the Space Shuttle. The = consequences of=20 not having a reusable launch vehicle in the 1970's are interesting, to = say the=20 least.
There is a Wiki=20 with Eyes Turned Skyward Spacecraft=20 and Launch Vehicle Data and Artwork.
There is a forum=20 thread about making Eyes Turned Skyward mods for = the game=20 Kerbal Space Program.
Imagining = Another=20 Apollo
David Portree is the manager of the Regional Planetary Information = Facility,=20 Astrogeology Science Center, US Geological Survey. His blog DSFP's=20 Spaceflight History Blog is full of great articles on the history of = spaceflight. But recently he has been applying his encyclopedic = knowledge to=20 crafting an alternate history that he calls "Imagining=20 Another Apollo". Last I checked it was up to part 5, it is = interesting=20 reading.
The Ministry of=20 Space
The = Ministry of=20 Space is a graphic novel written by the legendary Warren=20 Ellis and illustrated by Chris=20 Weston, published in 2001. It is an interesting=20 alternate history where at the end of World War II the British = instead of=20 the Americans got their hands on Germany's rocket scientists. This = results in a=20 new British empire in Space. But it is all very scientifically accurate, = abet=20 very Collie= r's=20 flavored.
Chris Weston's amazing British-Colliers-von Braun rockets are a real = treat=20 for the eye. Warren Ellis story is believable, plausible, but mordant = and=20 containing cutting social commentary. And there are some who wonder if = Britain=20 can create a real Ministry of Space.
Voyage
WARNING! SPOILERS!
V= oyage=20 by Stephen Baxter is an alternate history novel where president John F. = Kennedy=20 was wounded but not killed in the assasination attempt in 1963. It = traces the=20 history of a vastly expanded space program, though it does include a = disasterous=20 manned test flight of a NERVA spacecraft that puts a stop to nuclear = power in=20 space. "Boo, hiss" says the author of the Atomic Rocket website. But the = rest of=20 the novel is fascinating reading.
Titan
WARNING! SPOILERS!
Ti= tan=20 by Stephen Baxter is an alternate history novel where a strong tide of=20 anti-intellectualism in the United States (led by a fundamentalist = president=20 who mandates that school science classes should give equal teaching to = the=20 theory that the Sun orbits around the Earth) threatens the = existence of=20 NASA. NASA is forcibly merged with the US military, so its budget can be = diverted into increasing defense spending. After the permanent shutdown = of the=20 space program, a small team of NASA scientists hatch a desperate plan to = rekindle pubic interest in manned space exploration and combat the loss = of the=20 pioneering spirit in modern US politics and culture. They create a = manned=20 expedition to the moon Titan by recycling older spacecraft into new = uses. Their=20 mission is sabotaged at all levels, but it takes new urgency when a = Chinese=20 military stunt involving an Earth impacting asteroid goes terribly = wrong.