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#1 2002-08-07 20:33:17
- Phobos
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- Registered: 2002-01-02
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Re: Soviet 1960 Manned Mars Mission - They had some good ideas even then!
Apparently Zubrin wasn't the first advocate of year long surface stays on Mars. According to this article the Russians had designed a manned Mars mission in 1960 that included a train that would land at one of the poles and take a year trek across the planet until it reached the opposite pole. Personally I don't think it's a bad idea. If you go to the site check out the artist rendition of the train, the front looks like a tie-fighter on wheels. 
If you have the inclination you might also check out the article where they planned to forgo nuclear power and instead use giant arrays of solar cells to generate 15 MW of power.
To achieve the impossible you must attempt the absurd
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#2 2002-08-12 07:14:27
- samardza
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Re: Soviet 1960 Manned Mars Mission - They had some good ideas even then!
Actually, Von Braun's 'The Mars Project'(1953) and 'The exploration of Mars'(1956) were both 400 day stays.
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#3 2002-08-12 20:38:02
- Phobos
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Re: Soviet 1960 Manned Mars Mission - They had some good ideas even then!
What did you think of those books by Von Braun? I've been planning to read them but never get around to it. Did you see any similiarities to Mars Direct other than the long surface stay?
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#4 2002-08-13 08:51:28
- Mark S
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Re: Soviet 1960 Manned Mars Mission - They had some good ideas even then!
It's very different from Mars Direct. Zubrin wanted to avoid "Battlestar Galactica" starships, while Von Braun embraced them. His original idea was sending an armada of winged spacecraft to Mars for the first expedition and having each one make a lifting entry into the Martian atmosphere.
Von Braun's Mars expedition evolved after the publication of "The Mars Project." He eventually (1969) arrived at an expedition that used only two spacecraft. Each one consisted of four nuclear-thermal rockets, a habitat module, and an Apollo-shaped lander. The voyage also changed from a conjunction-class trip to an opposition-class mission.
"I'm not much of a 'hands-on' evil scientist."--Dr. Evil, "Goldmember"
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#5 2004-03-10 15:54:37
- Yang Liwei Rocket
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- Registered: 2004-03-03
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Re: Soviet 1960 Manned Mars Mission - They had some good ideas even then!
Von Braun was way ahead of his time, creating the ancestors of the modern spacecraft, and maybe putting American explorers into outer space with his Explorer rockets
Von Braun helped space science go a long way. His ideas and writings on mars are amazing also
'first steps are not for cheap, think about it...
did China build a great Wall in a day ?' ( Y L R newmars forum member )
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