planning was July 1965, when Mariner IV returned more accurate atmospheric data about Mars. This ruled out many of the lifting body and glider designs that were being considered based on estimates of a thicker Mars atmosphere than revealed by Mariner IV. Philco Aeronutronic Mars Excursion Module; this had a lifting body and had to be re-evaluated when the new data came in. Ames-TRW MEM Project Deimos MEM Marshall Space Flight Center MEM by Woodcock after Mariner IV data, had a more Apollo-like "gumdrop" style design. Gordon Woodcock at the NASA Marshal Space Flight Center worked on the basis of a thinner Mars atmosphere (0.5 percent of Earth's), and developed design for a MEM, and also a pure-lander variant that would deliver a pressurized crewed Mars rover called Molab. Cultural impact "One Way To The Moon", a 1966 episode of The Time Tunnel, featured a Mars Excursion Module launched in 1978. Mars Excursion Modules are also featured in Stephen Baxter's novel Voyage, an alternate history of space exploration in which NASA astronauts land on Mars in 1986 in a MEM named "Challenger" which was based on a North American Rockwell design proposal. The 1975 Year Two Space: 1999 episode "The Taybor" features a spacecraft, the SS Emporium, modeled by Martin Bower, which was clearly inspired to the MEM. The spaceship, symbolizing innovation (just like the MEM), was the first spacecraft in the series which could reach FTL velocities thanks to an extraterrestrial "Jump Drive". It is probable that the MEM inspired the Ares program Mars Ascent Vehicle (MAV) and Mars Descent Vehicle (MDV) in Andy Weir's 2011 novel The Martian (later adapted into a theatrical film). See also Lander (spacecraft) Manned Mars rover Mars habitat Mars suit References External links An Initial Concept Of A Manned Mars Excursion Vehicle For A Tenuous Mars Atmosphere (1966) Crewed spacecraft Human missions to Mars