EMPIRE Building: Ford Aeronutronic's Mars/Venus Piloted Flyby Study (1962) http://ifttt.com/images/no_image_card.png

In May 1962, the Future Projects Office at NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center awarded study contracts worth $250,000 each to General Dynamics, Lockheed, and the Aeronutronic Division of Ford Motor Company. General Dynamics studied Mars orbital missions, Lockheed looked at Mars flyby and orbital missions, and Aeronutronic studied Mars-Venus flybys. The combined study was called EMPIRE, an evocative acronym that stood for Early Manned Planetary-Interplanetary Roundtrip Expeditions.



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