2017-09-13

The Apollo Mars Mission and other weird AAP stuff

What if the Space Age had taken a slightly different turn? This sketch illustrates a project study of the Apollo Application Program (AAP) of 1969. We see the orbital laboratory COMLAB, consisting of an Apollo CM and a laboratory module that would be launched on a modified Saturn V with booster rockets attached.
Left: launch configuration, right: orbital configuration
1: Command Module Lab
2: Command Service Unit
3: Shell
4: Airlock
5: Base mount
6: Science units





One of the more weird proposals of the Apollo Applications Program (AAP) was an Apollo-based manned Mars mission!
The unit is driven by a chemical reaction drive (3) flanked by two S II nuclear booster units (4, 5). It includes a MEM (Mars Excursion Module, 1), an EEM (Earth Entry Module, 6) and a huge main cabin (2) that constitute the manned unit (8), also containing a launch engine for the ascent from Mars (3) and propulsion tanks (7).


Another study from the Apollo Applications Program (AAP). This was designed as a "universal capsule for larger space missions, composed of Apollo components". The numbers are:
1: Emergency launch system
2: Command module
3: Service module
4: Adapter (LEM casing)
5: Sleeping, hygiene and medical unit
6: Radiation-proof cabin and control centre (for four days isolated stay)
7: Centrifuge for artificial gravity and spare parts storage used as a counterweight
8: Cable rolls, control devices and drives
9: Connector to the service unit


Illustrations by Bernhard Borchert
Source: A. F. Marfeld, "Astronautik", Safari-Verlag 1969