The polaris program - Leading the way to the future of spaceflight

[Rutabaga22]

This is a KSRSS series where I will be doing an Alternate history series. Although this doesn't branch rom a specific point in the real life timeline, I will be making references to alternate events and/or places as I go, such as an American controlled French Guiana or alternate political histories.

The year is 1954 and the US air force has begun it's research into spaceflight as a way to prove American superiority over the USSR. A space center, located in French Guiana, is created a named the "Eisenhower space center" After the president at the time. They build a satellite known as Conquest. They would be strapping it to their Ares missile and it would launch september 20th.

Ares 1: Polaris

The first Ares lifted off the pad, but after a seal that that been chewed through by a mouse failed, the SRB exploded, leaving a sad group of scientists, engineers, and air force officials.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Rutabaga22

[Rutabaga22]

A realization that the Ares was unreliable and easily damaged Led to the USAF decommissioning the Ares as a spacecraft and beginning work on a space specific Launch vehicle, the Columbia.  During the construction, President Eisenhower creates the Polaris program to take over for the air force, he was quoted as saying " The Polaris Program will guide us to space just as the north star guided explorers in  our past." 

The program consisted of the best in astronomy and rocketry. They sent sounding rockets past the Karman line to make sure they weren't going in blind like they  were with Conquest. They tested materials for spacecraft that wouldn't be damaged by the heating of atmospheric heating, built chemical rocket engines for higher efficiency and control, and they took the first picture of earth from space. The future of Polaris seemed promising to the US and gained funding as it went. This all led up to the launch of the Columbia on April 24th, 1957

Destiny 1: Columbia test launch

The Columbia looms over Launchpad Alpha ready for launch

The Columbia lights it's dual tt-25 SRBs and lifts off the pad

Columbia drops it's SRBs, lights it's core stage, and begins it's gravity turn,  propelling it's apoapsis past the Karman line, setting up for the first man-made object in orbit

The Columbia is nearly out of the atmosphere and continues it's gravity turn

The Columbia deploys it's fairing once outside the atmosphere and light's it's second stage a few moments after, circularizing it's 

Columbia's upper sits, suspended in a liminal point between the Earth and the Heavens, a lonely traveler in a desolate universe.

After the successful launch of Columbia, the Americans have an accomplishment the soviets couldn't match, an object in orbit. This raised morale throughout the program and even made some commercial investors interested. The future was bright for the Polaris program. Another investor was interested in this tech... The US military saw the potential for an orbital class ICBM as the ultimate deterrent. The next mission, put a warhead into orbit, and have it reenter.

Edited July 16, 2022 by Rutabaga22

[hexeract]

On 7/15/2022 at 12:09 PM, Rutabaga22 said:

The first Ares lifted off the pad, but after a seal that that been chewed through by a mouse failed, the SRB exploded, leaving a sad group of scientists, engineers, and air force officials.

The mouse was a Russian; Thus, he was quite pleased with the results of his actions.

Edited July 16, 2022 by hexeract
Punctuation

[Maria Sirona]

You give up on a program after one failure?

[Rutabaga22]

4 hours ago, Maria Sirona said:

You give up on a program after one failure?

They realized use of the Ares as a space launch vehicle wasn't effective. It relied too much on cheaply made and easily damaged parts. Also, they didn't give up on a program, they gave up on a launch vehicle that was an adapted ICBM.

Edited July 17, 2022 by Rutabaga22

[hexeract]

4 hours ago, Rutabaga22 said:

They realized use of the Ares as a space launch vehicle wasn't effective. It relied too much on cheaply made and easily damaged parts. Also, they didn't give up on a program, they gave up on a launch vehicle that was an adapted ICBM.

Ares could still be repurposed as an upper stage for a larger space launch vehicle

[Rutabaga22]

1 hour ago, hexeract said:

Ares could still be repurposed as an upper stage for a larger space launch vehicle

definetley could! Just not going to atm

 

[hexeract]

6 hours ago, Rutabaga22 said:

definetley could! Just not going to atm

 

Then the pesky Russian rats won't be able to reach the motor seals, so no more accidents due to broken motor seals

[Rutabaga22]

The Program was having a boom! They received lots of public support from beating the soviets to space. A mass simulation of the warhead payload on  a columbia proved to be heavier than expected, so heavy, they had to remove the srbs to make the rocket able to lift the craft.  The Warhead was attached to a avionics control block and everything was going great! The payload was integrated, everything was tested, nothing could go wrong. June 8th 1958, the Columbia sat on the pad, ready for launch, it was time for a mission that would procure millions of dollars in military funding for the program.

The Columbia sits on the pad, ready for whatever the skies threw at it. The turbopumps spun up, igniting the engine, a rumble shook the ESC, the launch had begun. 

The launch went perfect, no goofs, no damage, nothing had gone wrong. The roar of the engines was a symbol of of hope for the program.

The rocket soared above the space center, leaving a scorched line through the sky. Observers throughout French Guiana saw the bright light of the engines.

As the columbia exit's the atmosphere the US extends it's hand into the stars again. Mission control was overjoyed.

" I was overjoyed" -rex Mohs

A software glitch caused the ODS to separate inside the fairing and stage the first stage, this caused the emergency rockets on the ODS to fire, Scorching the inside of the fairing.

Luckily, the fairing's altimeter deployed it and released the avionics block. Mission control was terrified,  but they were hopeful the bomb could be recovered, no broken arrow today!

The entry section deployed from the second stage and  orbital module and began reentry.

Reentry begins and the weapon is ready for whatever the atmosphere throws at it.

The plasma licks up the side of the warhead, Mission control is on the edge of their seats, but things are going better.

The ODS deploys it's parachute. A safe touchdown is a probability, Things are looking up.

\

Mission control breathes a sigh of relief as the ODS has a safe but rough landing in the water. The program will survive another day, or will it?

Uncertainty runs through the program. The military had only paid half the promised money of the contract. They had successfully put it in space and had it survive reentry, but they didn't orbit. The Columbia had proven itself as an effective ICBM, but not an ODS.  The program faced shutdown at the lack of funds, but many of the heads of the program fought and fought for funding, they eventually succeeded. They had a deal. Their funding was raised, but with the condition of putting a man in space before the end of the decade. The news made it to the public, they knew they would beat the soviets.

[Maria Sirona]

Rex Mohs is awesome! What does he have in his hands?

[Watermel00n]

Try making a military base on the moon!

[Rutabaga22]

7 hours ago, Maria Sirona said:

Rex Mohs is awesome! What does he have in his hands?

Magic beans, he was overjoyed. Watch the scott the woz Gifts of Gaming special

[Rutabaga22]

I'm cancelling this series. I'm just not enjoying it, srry. 

[Maria Sirona]

28 minutes ago, Rutabaga22 said:

I'm cancelling this series. I'm just not enjoying it, srry. 

[Rutabaga22]

Here are the images from a mission I did right before cancelling the series, completely forgot about these, so no real story/chain of events

Btw, that boattail on the first stage was custom made with procedural parts.