For every spacecraft that rises from its launch pad, there have been dozens that were conceived but not built. For every brave space mission flown, there have been dozens that flew only in the mission architect's imagination. Most of these missions that never were only progressed as far as paper studies. In a few cases, however, flight-worthy space vehicles have become scrap or museum exhibits. In other cases, engineers developed alternate flight plans for missions that flew; for example, NASA planned (ironically, as it turned out) a lunar-orbit photography mission for Apollo 13 in the event that its Lunar Module failed and could not be used to land on the moon.

In this blog, I will describe many space missions and programs that never were. I'll seek to place them in historical context, and to explore why they failed to make the difficult jump from plan to reality. Along the way, I'll write about our evolving knowledge of the Solar System, NASA's symbiotic relationship with the Soviet space program, and intricacies of the U. S. political process. My posts will tend to run long, and some might be serialized over several weeks. Above all, they'll be a meaty treat for my fellow space fans and, I hope, a window into a new world for people who have seldom given spaceflight more than casual consideration.

Beyond Apollo is the product of a 16-year evolution. It started in 1996 as a website called Romance to Reality. In 2001, that site spawned a NASA-published history of planning for piloted Mars missions called HUMANS TO MARS. I closed the site in 2006 for reasons that seemed sensible at the time; then, after a three-year hiatus, I re-launched it in time for the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11 as the Beyond Apollo blog. Now Beyond Apollo finds a new home among the outstanding blogs of Wired Science.

I hope that you, gentle reader, will feel compelled to ask questions and offer up your views on my posts. Your input will help to set this blog's course. Of course, being a contentious and opinionated character, I will not hesitate to disagree if I feel that it is warranted. Even when I disagree with you, however, it's likely that your views will shape this blog. I have learned many lessons from my readers in the past 16 years, and I hope to learn many more.

3. . .2. . .1. . . liftoff! We have liftoff! Liftoff of Beyond Apollo on a new journey of space history exploration.