Rockets away! Space flight earlier

I've always loved timelines where spaceflight gets started earlier, or keeps going after it's in gear, unlike in OTL. Does anyone have any good timelines where this happens?
I've done some rough work on one that starts with devious plots and battleships, enjoy--comments welcome!

When the Washington Naval Treaty was signed, Japan was not happy with the results. Although Japan followed the treaty, clandestine plans were already being made to cheat on the treaty when the time was right. The 18” guns for the next generation of battleships were put in storage and more built, ostensibly for coast defense purposes. Other materials were slowly stockpiled, and the twin 18” turrets were built—also justifiable for coast defense batteries, should anyone discover them. Even the turbines and reduction gears could be used for other purposes. (The turrets, guns, turbines, and reduction gearing are the longest lead time items for a battleship, and there are some legitimate reasons to stockpile heavy armor—such as repairs to existing ships)
In 1930, as the Japanese started becoming more militaristic, construction was started on the next generation of battleships. Secrecy was of course paramount, and there was a fear that the Americans might find out something.
To prevent just such a situation, the Japanese developed an elaborate decoy scheme. A rocket program was started, with tight—but not perfect—security. Perfectly legal, and an explanation for where the vast resources were going. The project was never intended to produce major results, but did bear some fruit. Japanese aircraft tested the new rockets against the Chinese ground forces in 1934, and when the Kamikaze was introduces, the Oka was developed earlier—and was longer ranged.
As a result, Japan managed to keep the four new super-battleships secret.
In the USA, word leaked out of Japan’s rocket program. Naturally, the USA had to develop a better program just in case there was something to it. Goddard was brought on board, and the project really took off. As a result, the heavy bomber program was less intense.
By 1940, the US had a missile similar to the V-2, and a limited number of rocket planes (short ranged and very fast.) Larger rockets were on the drawing boards—the accuracy of the current ones was unacceptable.
December 7, 1941: The Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor on schedule. The results were devastating for the US, although the two rocket planes that managed to get off the ground destroyed at least 10 aircraft between them. One of the American planes was hit, and simply vanished as its fuel was ignited.
Reports of the performance of the planes was doubted, althought one Zero’s gun camera got a poor quality picture.
The first half of 1942 went much as historical, as the US build-up commenced. In June, the Japanese attacked Midway. It was decided that that was the place to use rocket aircraft, since the island HAD to be held. When the first strike came roaring in, it was torn to shreds by American rocket-fighters. The losses were so heavy that another attack was cancelled, despite the huge explosion seen on the island—the rocket fuel had been hit. As the carrier force retreats, the American carriers manage one attack, damaging one of the Japanese carriers. Nagumo’s force turned for home with empty flight decks and hangars.
It was also in mid 1942 that the bombardment of Germany commenced. For six months, the US had been stockpiling missiles while the bombing of Germany was also being carried on by conventional means. On June 10, with the US rocket program out of the bag at Midway, the second half was unveiled. In 3 days, over 100 rockets fell into industrial Germany. The explosions weren’t as bad as a bomber raid, but they came with no warning. After this surge, rockets fell into German on a regular basis—a minor supplement to the strategic bombing.
The rocket powered fighters were of little offensive use due to their short range, but they inspired faster development of the Komet and ME-262 jets. The German jets and rockets started flying in force by early 1943.
Naturally, the RAF and USAAF pushed development of jets, but they were well behind the Luftwaffe. Even the Americans had to accept that night bombing was necessary after severe losses. The Americans focussed on strategic rocket development, and by late 1943, the accuracy was much improved.
When the war ended (about the same time as historical) the Americans were lobbing missiles into Japan from Okinawa—and hitting the intended targets regularly.
Unfortunately, when the Manhattan Project bore fruit, there wasn’t a plane ready to lift the new bomb—the B-29 had been delayed due to the resources devoted to the missiles—and the missiles couln’d loft the massive nuclear weapons.
Eventually, the bomb was delivered by a radio-controlled Lancaster, and the war ended.

The first supersonic flight occurred in 1944 or early 1945 using a rocket powered plane.

The USA had an incredible edge in rocketry, which was further added to when the US captured some of Germany’s finest. In 1949, just after the USSR exploded its first nuclear bomb, the USA fired its first intercontinental range missile capable of carrying a nuclear warhead.

The existence of Soviet planes with nuclear capability spurred American air to air missile development, although the American ICBM’s were thought to be an effective deterrent for the moment. Still, the potential of Soviet advances—or outright theft of American technology—spurred the US to stay ahead. The ICBM launchers were ideal for lofting cameras-and the first satellite orbited in late 1949, with the first manned space shot in 1950.
NATO is almost seen as unnecessary by many people, as the United States clearly doesn’t need help keeping the Soviets at bay, and some of the nations decide that signing onto NATO would almost be giving the nation away to the USA. Others felt that staying with the US—with its huge supply of rebuilding resources—was the way to go. Europe became a patchwork of nations—some neutral, secure that the US would fight the USSR regardless if they ever came, some Soviet dominated, and some in the NATO alliance.

The space program was seen by many nations as a foolish waste, but the USA soon started making more use of its monopoly. Cameras were mounted on satellites—first for military purposes, and soon enough also for weather prediction. With the military firmly behind a further manned presence in space, by 1955, Space Station Lewis and Clark looked down on Earth.
Future generations would forever mark July 3, 1957 as the last day that all of humanity was confined to Earth—on July 4, when the
When the USSR first put a man into orbit, the American reaction was swift—America would maintain its reputation for high technology by putting a man on the moon. In 1961, the Eagle landed. The American lunar craft was quite different from anything in our timeline, since the ship could start from the orbiting station. A portion of the first ship remained in Lunar orbit to act as a base for further exploration.
When the next crisis with the USSR happened (as they always did in both timelines,) the USA revealed that it had missiles out of reach of the Soviet arsenal—both the space station and the lunar orbiting base were armed with nuclear missiles.

1965 sees the first reusable spacecraft flying, but it proves disappointing, and somewhat dangerous.

France, ever more weary of American domination, started a quiet technological exchange program with the USSR, and publicly declared that it would join the Americans on the moon. The French worked on the delicate technology, while the USSR focussed on the big boosters. With the combined efforts (and a disregard for risk that costs several cosmonauts) they put a station into orbit, and then follow with a lunar landing.
The USA expands its space station for both military and civilian purposes, and by 1972, there are 5 major permanent orbiting stations—3 American, 1 Franco-Soviet, and the American Selene Station orbiting the moon. In 1972, the first child is born in space.
The second generation shuttle takes wing in 1971, as does a reusable massive booster, allowing a larger population to be supported in orbit. It also allows for the Mars mission’s first ship to be completed ahead of schedule. USS Ares is intended to become an orbiting base on arrival, with the spent fuel tanks made into living quarters.
The mission is initially a success, with Ares blasting off in 1975, but tragedy strikes at Mars—one of the landers crashes and all aboard are killed. With only one lander available-and many crew dead—the mission’s options are severely reduced. Some exploration is accomplished, but a pall descends over the entire crew.
Another close call ends the exploration mission early—the second lander refuses to take off after one of the visits. The crew manages to jury-rig it to return to Ares, but permanent repairs are impossible in Martian orbit. The lander can—and does—explore Mars’ moons while it’s there.
The supplies for building a permanent base wait with Ares—as does the one lander—while the surviving crew returns to Earth.

An ion engine is in the works, although Ares II will once again have conventional engines. Ares II also carries German, British, and Swedish crewmen and women—the first international interplanetary mission. Ares II also carries parts for the lander from Ares I, and two ships capable of returning to Earth. The paln is for one ship to return to Earth in a little over a year, while the other will remain on or orbiting Mars until the next ship comes. Should the next ship not come, the second ship can carry the crew home.
The two Ares spacecraft are intended to be permanently joined as a Mars base, since they will be obsolete as interplanetary ships when the first of the constant-boost ion engine ships are in service.

Note: Although it was not mentioned explicitly, the rush for rocketry has resulted in a much faster development of electronics, although it provided no real extra drive for civilian use of the new computers.

This is a very rough sketch, with holes big enough to sail USS New Hampshire (BB 70) through. If people find it plausible and interesting in the rough, I’ll probably work on it more.

Being who I am, I liked the idea of a space program timeline having a battleship POD.
Enjoy
 

Diamond

Banned
On the old board, Per Roar Johansen did an excellent TL about an extended/better-financed NASA. You might also check out 'The Tranquility Alternative' by Allan Steele, or 'Voyage' by Stephen Baxter; both are excellent "better-space-program" novels.

I liked your POD and rough TL quite a bit; would love to see it more fleshed out. The main problem I see is with the introduction of some of the technology in WWII - some of it seems too early or rushed, some seems too late.
 
I take it that the missile bombardment of Germany was carried out from Great Britain. Wouldn't strategic bombing be better? - unless your just plastering the German countryside. I think accuracy would be important. I don't quite see the long range bomber being put on the backburner, the US should be capable of carrying out both projects.

Are rocket planes capable of being carried on aircraft carriers? It doesn't appear to me that conventional aircraft are entirely obsolete.

Altogether not too bad an ATL, tho I don't quite know about them being deployed to Hawaii in 1941.
 
A few questions and answers

Thanks both for the feedback--I have some answers and questions.
The missile bombardment wa carried out from Britain, while Britain carried out numerous nighttime raids. Near the end of the war, the rockets were becomeing more accurate, and the warheads larger.
The US has enormous resources, but not infinite, and can not do everything. I envision the strategic bomber projects as going ahead, but slower--it would be in direct competition for resources with the rockets, since they have similar jobs. Most of them willstill fly, it's the massively expensive superfortress that suffers, as well as other expensive alternatives that in OTL came out after the war. I could certainly change this if someone had a more logical place for the US to cut back, but I don't see one off hand.
Only a few rocket planes are deployed to Hawaii-as much an experiment to see if they can be supported practically at a more distant base. Changing this won't influence the outcome of the war greatly.
Most of the war is folught with conventinal planes--the rockets are short ranged interceptors. Possibly, an intermedaite rtange recon rocket would show up by the end of the war. Major American bases get a few of them, making them very hard to attack with conventional bombers. They are not deployable on carriers--hard landings tend to be very bad with unstable fuel, and carrier opperations involve amny hard landings.
Perhaps the US is experimenting with a piston-rocket hybrid--pistion engin for cruising, and a rocket booster for combat--a scheme that would pass from the scene as jet technology is adapted.
Which technologys seem too early or too late? I'm very open to suggestions here. Also, any thoughts on when the private corporations might try to get into space in this timeline?
 
A major drawback for the American missile campaign, as I see it, is that one has to deassemble them, crate them and ship them across the Atlantic, through U-Boat infested waters, uncrate them and assemble them in areas that are being bombed. Not that it can't be done, but I should expect that the Luftwaffe would concentrate on bombing Allied rocket sites, not to easy to miss with all those concrete structures and pads about.

Regarding the eventual private companies in space, now that I think about it this ATL could probably easily link up with the world as envisioned in Robert Heinlein's Rocketship Galileo. The US Postal Service sounds like a likely candidate. Strangely enough I could see the development of an international postal service run by the United Nations, with their rocket planes zipping about. Perhaps very similar to Rudyard Kipling's With the Night Mail.
 
NBBL, I love it. An ATL with a rocket program started only to povide cover for more battleships! I also like the fact that the earlier switch to ballistic missiles retarded the influence of stratigic air power (and I presume the development of a separate US Air Force). I have no real problems with your military timeline, which is plausible, although I wonder if the combination of gyroscopic controls. communications, heat-resistant materials, and electronics possibly necessary for really accurate missiles and space probes could have come together much earlier than in OTL. Obviosuly manned spaceflight has been accelerated because of the wide availability and use of rocket-powered aircraft - which is neat. Perhaps with humans going into space largely as a logical outgrowth of piloted rocketplanes, electronics and remote-control technologies may be perceived as less valuable, making accelerated development of electronics unnecessary.

Everything up to and including the moon landings/colonization seems reasonable. I suspect the manned Mars mission timeline may be a little early, because I don't see the competitive cold-war reason for it. Missile bases on the moon could have a real impact on geopolitics, whereas a US colony on Mars would have no immediate military benefit I can see. To get people willing to spend the money to go to Mars, we'd need a real reason to galvinize people - like the discovery of intellegent life or a more earthlike climate - which is ASB. I like the fact that the Mars ship is USS Aries. This brings up one of my ATL fantasies - that military space travel is a naval, not army/airforce function.
 
Mars

The manned Mars mission occurrs for several reasons.
1. With the Franco-Soviet space program starting to show a real presence in Earth orbit, a mission to Mars once again shows the American's undisputed dominence in the area of space science. It has the same importance as the lunar landings did in OTL, since the French and Soviets have started to make noises about going to Mars. It is intollerable in the eyes of many Americans for anyone else to stake a claim on the red planet.
2. Science--in this TL, automated probes aren't what they are in OTL, at least not yet. There would still be significant questions as to life on Mars, now or previously--and the only way to answer them is to go out and look.

As far as more accurate missiles--the rocket program began in 1931 with near Manhattan project quantity resources devoted to it by 1935. Japan's rocket project is a major concern due to the failure of American intelligence to realize it's a decoy.
I can see some post-war books now:
"American Intellignece Failures and the Coming of the Space Age."
"The Moon by Mistake--How Japanese Secrecy Snookered the USA."
With the independent Air Force--I hadn't given it any thought. I just automaticly gave an Anerican ship the USS prefix.
I'd love a way for the whole program to fall into the hands of the Navy.
Incidently, most of the huge Japanese battleships are sunk by air and submarine, but there is at least one classic surface action. Post-war, people like us are constantly speculating about what Japan could have done, had all the resources poured into these 8 or so super battleships (plus one converted to a carrier, and sunk by a submarine before it was fully worked up) been spent instead on carriers to go with the ones that were in service.

As far as defending the launch pads--if the Luftwaffe attempts to bomb them, rocket interceptors await--bad news for the Germans. Also, Germany managed to keep firing V-2's dispite the massive US and British air raids.
 
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