Race to Mars

Overview
What if the Space Race is focused on Mars?

Key Dates
October 11, 1958: NASA's spacecraft Pioneer 1 is launched. After flying by the moon instead of orbit insertion as planned, the space probe became the first man made object to enter interplanetary space. Although this mission is seen as a partial success since it did not went into lunar orbit, this is seen as a major milestone to upstage the Russians after the humiliation suffered during Sputnik 1. Point of Divergence.

November 8, 1958: NASA's Pioneer 2 went to the Moon and beyond as Pioneer 1 did.

December 6, 1958: Pioneer 3 scored a winning streak for NASA by flying by the Moon again.

January 2, 1959: USSR's Luna 1 followed the steps of Pioneer 1 and 2.

March 3, 1959: NASA's Pioneer 4 sent back the first images from the lunar far side.

March 24, 1961: NASA astronaut Alan Shepard became the first man in space with a suborbital Freedom 7 flight. Ticker tape parade were held in his honor thereafter.

April 12, 1961: Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin is the first to orbit the Earth, humiliating Americans as in OTL.

May 25, 1961: Kennedy delivers the "We shall go to the Moon" speech. In response Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev orders Chief Designer Sergei Korolev to work on a booster and spacecraft capable of taking cosmonauts to the lunar surface. Besides that they begin to work on the interplanetary TMK spacecraft.

November 22, 1963: Assassination of President Kennedy.

1964: The USSR launched the world's space station Zarya 1 which was based on the OS-1962 design.

1965: Cosmonaut Alexei Leonov made the first spacewalk.

1966: USSR's Luna 9 became the first spacecraft to soft land on the Moon.

July 4, 1969: The test firing of Soviet N1 rocket is successful.

July 20, 1969: NASA astronaut Neil Armstrong is the first human to land on the Moon.

November 1969: A Soyuz 7K-LOK spaceship carrying Alexei Leonov and Vladimir Komarov flew around the Moon. This alone caused a major shock to Americans regardless of Apollo 11.

January 1970: Alexei Leonov became the first Soviet citizen to step foot on the Moon after landing with an LK (Lunniy Korabl) spacecraft.

June 8, 1971: Soviet TMK spacecraft carrying Valentina Tereshkova, Alexei Leonov and Vladimir Komarov is launched into an interplanetary trajectory. After flying by Mars, the crew returned to Earth where they received a hero's welcome. This caused a very gigantic shock among the Americans.

1972: After the conclusion of Apollo 20 with a landing on Copernicus Crater, NASA began plotting a LESA (Lunar Exploration System for Apollo) moon base. The American NERVA program and the Mars Expedition 1969 program has regained interest among the NASA officials due to its capability to send a manned spacecraft to Mars.

July 10, 1974: The TMK spacecraft returned to Earth. They are greeted with a hero's welcome

1975: The first Martian sample return missions Mars 4NM and Mars 5NM are launched by the Soviet Union and successfully conducted its missions, generating even more shock to the Americans.

1977: Voyager interstellar spacecrafts are launched and Voyager 1 will become the first spacecraft to enter interstellar space.

1983: After much testings, the American Manned Mars mission is finally launched. When the NASA spacecraft, equipped with NERVA booster finally reached to Mars, Neil Armstrong, who volunteered to participate in the manned program to Mars, becomes the first man to step foot on Mars after walking out from the Martian Excursion Module. Armstrong is joined with astronauts Buzz Aldrin and Alan Shepard while on Mars.

The astronauts in the Martian manned program will successfully return to Earth later.

1987: As a sign of detente, the American space shuttle docks with a Soviet Soyuz spacecraft.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5304,5457,0,0]}">1990: Since too much funding is spent on space exploration programs at this timeline, the nuclear stockpiles of US and USSR is far lesser than OTL.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5459,5502,0,0]}">1991: The Soviet Union disintegrates.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5459,5502,0,0]}">1998: The U.S. space shuttle begin to build a rotating space station based on the Von Braun design.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5459,5502,0,0]}">2001: The Americans return to the Moon, however the 9/11 attacks befell upon them.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5459,5502,0,0]}">2003: The U.S. invades Iraq as in OTL.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5459,5502,0,0]}">2005: The NASA lunar habitat is finished.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5459,5502,0,0]}">2006: Eight crews are stationed in the NASA habitat.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5459,5502,0,0]}">2010: NASA began to extract the lunar oxygen for use in their habitats.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5459,5502,0,0]}">2012: USA landed the first man on the lunar far side.

<p data-parsoid="{"dsr":[5459,5502,0,0]}">2016: The gigantic rotating space station dubbed "Von Braun station" is complete.