Proxima: A human exploration of Mars (also known as just Proxima) is an alternate spaceflight story writted by defconh3ck on the Alternatehistory.com forums.
The story focuses on a retelling of space shuttle program with it's the main point of divergence being in 1977 with NASA putting more effort in the space shuttle program. This culminates in a program designed to send humans to Mars dubbed "Olympus" with a fleet of interplanetary spacecraft being assembled by space shuttles and shuttle derived vehicles. A space station dubbed "Odyssey" is operational by 1987 (11 years prior to the ISS OTL) with a crewed mission to Mars taking place in 1996 and a landing in the following year. The story also focuses on the changes to spaceflight that occur in this timeline as a result of increased effort in the Space Shuttle program.
The story can be read here
. Finished as of 2022.
This work features the following tropes :
- Alternate History: NASA increases effort in the space shuttle program, culminating into a program to get humans to Mars.
- Allo Historical Allusion: OV-102, named Valiant, burns up during reentry after a botched RTLS abort involving the external tank striking the TPS and damaging it, eerily similar to how the OV-102 in our timeline was destroyed due to damage to its TPS during launch from its external tank.
- Anyone Can Die: Downplayed, whilst the only deaths are the astronauts on board space shuttle Vailiant, an incident involving the crew of Olympus 9 has an astronaut almost dying, getting his hand amputated and an emergency return to Earth.
- Cool Spaceship: The Mars spacecraft certainly◊ qualify◊ for◊ this.
- Different World, Different Movies: Carl Sagan's Cosmos lasts far longer than IOTL, and even films an episode on board a space station.
- For Want Of A Nail:
- The Skylab space station gets visited by the space shuttle as a result of being boosted by a "Titan boost module"
- The space shuttle program begins in 1980 with the first orbiter to fly being OV_099 "Challenger."
- OV-102 ends up being damaged prior to transport and thus Challenger ends up being the first to fly.
- NASA and ESA build a space station in the 1980s as opposed to the late 90s' and 2000s' like in OTL.
- NASA and ESA astronauts end up flying the Soyuz spacecraft starting from 1985, 10 years earlier than in OTL.
- The US airforce gets its own space shuttle "Valiant." Which ends up getting destroyed in chapter 10 as a result of a botched Return To Launchsite abort.
- SLC-6 ends up being used as a result of the aformentioned USAF shuttle.
- As a result of regular booster testing and increased inspections, the Challenger disaster never happens in this timeline.
- The Space Shuttle Program continues into 2022
- NASA and CNSA work together in space whereas in OTL, laws forbid them from doing so.
- Despite rocky beginnings, Lockheed's VentureStar program succeeds in getting off the ground and eventually replaces the aging Shuttle fleet.
- Hard Work Hardly Works: The Skylab space station is revealed have suffered a huge variety of problems as a result of being abandonded in orbit for 6 years. Certainly not helped by the issues it had originally. The station is then deorbited into the Indian ocean in 1981.
- In Spite of a Nail:
- OV-102 still experiences the same fate as in OTL except under slightly different circumstances.
- The Soviet Union still collapses in 1991.
- The Space Shuttle Program is retired though 11 years later than OTL.
- Space Station: Odyssey, The Mars Base station, Zarya, to name a few.
