NASA Studied 396-Day Crewed Venus Flyby for 1973 Launch
Updated
Updated · 19FortyFive · Aug 6
NASA Studied 396-Day Crewed Venus Flyby for 1973 Launch
1 articles · Updated · 19FortyFive · Aug 6
Summary
A 1967 NASA study mapped a 396-day Apollo-era mission that would have launched three astronauts on Oct. 31, 1973, for a Venus flyby and Earth return in December 1974.
The plan used one Saturn V and modified Apollo hardware, including a converted S-IVB upper stage that would have provided about 10,000 cubic feet of living space for a yearlong deep-space voyage.
At roughly 6,000 km above Venus, the crew would have used the planet's gravity to swing back toward Earth and would have deployed probes to sample the atmosphere while managing them with minimal signal delay.
The mission was meant to test long-duration human spaceflight, life-support and deep-space operations as a bridge toward Mars, making it a potential first crewed interplanetary voyage.
Budget cuts, fading public enthusiasm after the Moon landings and Vietnam War spending killed the broader Apollo Applications Program, leaving Skylab as the main survivor.