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We Choose to Go to the Moon. "We choose to Go to The Moon, we choose to Go to the Moon... We choose to Go to the Moon in this decade and do the other things, not because they are easy, but because they are hard; because that goal will serve to organize and measure the best of our energies and skills, because that challenge is one we are willing to accept, one we are unwilling to postpone, and one we intend to win, and the others, too." The immortal words of John F. Kennedy from his speech at Rice Stadium on September 12th, 1962. Although the late President was tragically assassinated just over a year later, the goal he set forth will live on,NASA will make darn sure of it. The Apollo program, the culmination of Mercury, and Gemini, will realize Kennedy's goal. To put a man on the Moon, and return him safely to Earth. The technical challenges are just one part of it, the development process has been stricken by issues, and tragically, the loss of 3 American heroes during the Apollo 1 disaster. Their sacrifice will not be forgotten, nor will it be in vain. Steady as she goes, the Apollo program is finally pushing onwards, as Gemini wraps up with its final flight, Gemini 12. The Saturn I has been the workhorse of Apollo up to this point, giving NASA experience with larger launch vehicles and allowing for lessons to be learned, the Saturn IB has now taken its place with the primary purpose of testing the S-IVB upper stage, which will be used to send the Apollo CSM and LEM to a "Trans-Lunar Injection" or TLI trajectory, where they will intercept the Moon. Following the Apollo 1 disaster, the Apollo CSM is taken into a design review, and changes will be needed before crew are allowed to fly on it again. The second flight of the Saturn IB, testing the behavior of the S-IVB in orbit to assist in the development of the 500 series S-IVB, which needs the capability to restart for the TLI maneuver. 1967 was a rough year for NASA, but finally, in November, there is a chance to bounce back, for triumph. The SA-501, the first Saturn V rocket, is on the new Launch Complex 39A, preparing for the maiden flight of the Saturn V rocket. The Saturn V dwarfs all other rockets, using 5 F-1 engines, which were originally developed in a US Air Force program, but revived for NASA's moon rocket. Wernher Von Braun and his team at NASA's Marshall Spaceflight Center in Huntsville, Alabama are the leading team which develop this mighty launch vehicle. November 9th, 1967: The Mighty Saturn V "Our building's shaking here, our building's shaking! Oh it's terrific... the building's shaking! This big blast window is shaking! We're holding it with our hands! Look at that rocket go... enter the clouds at 3,000ft! Look at it going... you can see it, you can see it..." - Walter Cronkite of CBS News as he spectates the launch of the first Saturn V Rocket. The inaugural flight of the Saturn V goes off flawlessly, a massive victory for NASA, something the agency really needed. The rocket that will bring America to the Moon is here. But what NASA doesn't know is, the Saturn V is not alone. Nevertheless, Apollo 4 is a major triumph for NASA, rebuilding the agency's confidence, as preparations begin for the next Saturn V mission, and Apollo 5, which will test the Lunar Module on its own in Earth orbit. The Moon is feeling ever closer, and maybe, to robotic spacecraft, the other planets are too.

Thanks! I'm trying to keep this updated while continuing to develop the story so more parts should be coming soon!

Gemini, Voskhod, and the Moon Rocket(s) Gemini 3 launches on March 23rd, 1965, the first crewed flight of the Gemini program. Virgil "Gus" Grissom and John Young are the 2 astronauts aboard the Gemini spacecraft, which they have named "Molly Brown", after a debacle in which NASA considered the name too informal for the program. Molly Brown lifts off into the skies of Cape Canaveral, the 2 astronauts orbit the Earth 3 times, and splash down just under 5 hours after launch. Molly Brown soars into the skies of Cape Canaveral on the first crewed Gemini mission, Gemini 3. Gemini 3 orbiting above the Earth. But the Soviets were not taking this lightly, they too had developed a multi-man spacecraft, Voskhod, although it would debut several months after Gemini, it's 3 crew capacity made it clear the Soviets weren't giving up on their lead just yet. Voskhod 2 would make this point clearer as Alexei Leonov became the first human in history to exit his spacecraft in space, on a so-called "Extra-Vehicular Activity" or EVA. The US would strike back 3 months later on Gemini 4 in June of 1965, as Ed White became the first American to perform an EVA. The US would finally score a big victory on Gemini 5. setting the on-orbit duration record at 8 days. The mission's slogan "8 Days or Bust" held true as the 2 astronauts orbited the Earth for just over a week. And more repeated success was to come on Gemini 6A, which performed the first rendezvous between two crewed spacecraft with its sister mission, Gemini 7. Although Vostok had managed to establish radio contact, no true rendezvous was achieved. And it seemed to many that Gemini was finally pulling the United States ahead of the Soviet Union in the space race. But as 1965 wraps up, and 1966 begins, there's an even bigger development. The first S-IC stages of the Saturn V rocket are completed. America's Moon Rocket is nearing it's debut. But it's not alone.

whatever you think happened (the same outcome as irl gemini 1)

Hi all, this is my first post on the forums but I'd like to bring to you something I have been working on for a while. This is One Giant Leap, an alternate history of not only the Space/Moon Race, but into the Shuttle era and Space Exploration as a whole. KSP is the medium through which I'm telling this so I felt putting it here was more suitable. I'll start at the beginning and try to keep this updated (hopefully). August 7th, 1964: The Giant Has Better Things To Do. By 3 votes, the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution is blocked in Congress, thousands of protestors had gathered on Capitol Hill to protest the fact that this bill had even made it this far. But their efforts were not in vain, President Johnson would not get the authority "to take any measures he believed were necessary to retaliate and to promote the maintenance of international peace and security in southeast Asia." In other words, the United States will not intervene in Vietnam, instead, the United States will look upwards, to the stars, peaceful exploration, for the good of mankind. Although the Soviets had a head-start, placing Yuri Gagarin into space on April 12th, 1961, the US was quick to respond, sending Alan Shepard into space not a month later on May 5th, 1961. Despite the delays and setbacks, NASA is hopeful the fledgling Gemini program will finally pull the US ahead of the Soviet Union, shifting the balance of power in the Space Race. But in the distance, Apollo looms, the late President Kennedy's goal has not been forgotten, the United States will put a man on The Moon before the end of the 1960s. Dawn of Gemini: The Titan II GLV launches the first Gemini spacecraft on Gemini 1, marking the beginning of NASA's new crewed spaceflight program.