In the late 40s Wernher von Braun, pioneer of the space race, imagined an expedition that could change the course of history. He further defined its boundaries in the following years: with a fleet of ships and winged landers created to land on the surface of Mars, his project (“Das Marsprojekt”) marked the beginning of a bold journey into the unknown.
Today we know a little more, many successes (and failures) later. In light of today's knowledge, was the dream of the scientist who "served two empires" achievable?
Von Braun's vision
In 1952, von Braun outlined a plan that envisioned a fleet of ten spaceships headed to Mars, with crews of at least 70 men each. These would have traveled to the Red Planet, where the transfer ships would have remained in orbit while winged "landing boats" would have descended to the surface, gliding like gliders.
The concept called for one of these gliders to land on special skis in the ice of the Martian polar regions, where the crew would then build a runway to allow the other gliders to land. Von Braun's idea, while fascinating, immediately raises questions about its practical feasibility, especially in light of current knowledge about the atmosphere and gravity of Mars.
The atmosphere of Mars: a challenge for flight
It wasn't a joke, von Braun studied a scenario like this a lot. He published his calculations in 1952, as mentioned, and they subsequently reached a wide audience in the journal Collier's , in a series of books and even in a Disney television show. What is surprising is that several points of the scenario proposed by Von Braun are still valid today (just read the details). Different, but not this one.
Von Braun's project was based on estimates of the Martian atmosphere that we now know to be rather optimistic. Von Braun estimated the density of the Martian atmosphere like 8% of that on Earth, while current data place it only around 1%. This crucial difference makes the concept of winged “landing boats” significantly more challenging, given that Mars' thin atmosphere offers less lift than von Braun had anticipated.
In other words, the original design of the landing boats would almost certainly have resulted in their crash on the soil of the red planet and, despite being a brilliant exercise of engineering imagination, would have required significant revisions to work.
Final reflections
Of course, von Braun's work remains a milestone in the field of astronautics. His visions have inspired generations of scientists, engineers and dreamers, and this ante litteram Martian expedition of his is no exception.
“Das Marsprojekt” reminds us of the importance of dreaming big, and then sifting our dreams with the science and technology at our disposal. The road to Mars is littered with challenges, but also with infinite possibilities, ready to be discovered by those who dare to look beyond the horizon.
