In 1959 the US wanted to create a military outpost on the satellite to curb Russian aims. Panaged intent because too expensive. Today, however, the interest has rekindled: the space is now the future line of the front in the disputes between states
The document is titled Project Horizon, subtitle: Proposal to Establish in Lunar Outpost, or “proposal to establish a lunar outpost”. Nothing extraordinary, at least apparently: the United States, Russia and China have already announced their intention to return to the moon to build permanent bases. But what makes this 118 -page report unique is the date: 9 June 1959. The document is classified “Secret” and was drawn up by the United States army. The goal? Militarily occupy the moon to protect American interests in the middle of the Cold War.
A scenario that until a few years ago would seem anachronistic, almost science fiction, but which today, with the growing tensions between Washington, Beijing and Moscow, returns to be current. The two main lunar projects in progress are the Artemis of NASA program, which aims to bring the man back to the moon within the decade and build a housing module, and the collaboration between Russia and China for a lunar scientific station fueled by nuclear energy, scheduled between 2033 and 2035 But behind the peaceful facade, strategic and military ambitions could be hidden.
Just like those imagined 66 years ago by General Arthur G. Trudeau, head of the research and development of the American army. Veteran of the Second World War and the Korean war, between 1953 and 1955 he led the US military intelligence before being in charge of supervising the most advanced technological projects. Convinced anti -communist, Trudeau followed the space successes of the Soviet Union with alarm: in 1957 the Russians had launched Sputnik, the first artificial satellite. American services feared that the Soviets could reach the moon by 1968.
Hence the idea of a lunar military outpost to be completed around 1966. In the introductory letter to Project Horizon, today Desecretato, Trudeau writes: «A military outpost is required with a crew on the moon. This presence is necessary to develop and protect the potential interests of the United States, to monitor the earth and space from the moon, as a base for lunar and spatial exploration, and for military operations, if necessary, as well as to support scientific investigations “.
According to Trudeau “military power based on the moon will constitute a strong deterrent against war, due to the extreme difficulty, from the point of view of the enemy, to eliminate our capacity for retaliation. Any military operation on the moon will be difficult to counter for the enemy, due to the difficulty for him to reach it. The situation turns upside down if the hostile forces come first: they could militarily contrast our landings and try to politically deny the use of their territory ».
For this reason, Trudeau hoped that the project was treated with the same urgency and priority of the Manhattan plan, which had led to the atomic bomb: “The creation of the avamation should be a special project, with authorities and priorities similar to those of the Manhattan project during the Second World War. Once established, the lunar base will be managed under the control of a unified space command. Being second to the Soviet Union in instituting an outpost on the moon would be disastrous for the prestige of our nation and, consequently, for our democratic philosophy. Although this is contrary to the United States politics, the Soviet Union, establishing the first permanent base, could claim the moon or critical areas of it as its own. A subsequent attempt by the United States to establish a outpost could then be considered and propagated as a hostile act ».
The secret plan provided, at full capacity, a base inhabited by 12 astronauts. “The first two men will arrive on the lunar surface in April 1965,” reads the report. «They will be guided to an area where the accumulation of materials for the future construction has already started. Their landing vehicle will have immediate capacity to return to Earth; However, they are expected to remain in the area until the advanced group of the construction team arrives. During their stay, they will live in the cabin of their lunar vehicle, which will be equipped with the essential elements for life and the necessary power sources. For a prolonged stay, these elements will be integrated with the support of the load delivered previously and subsequently on the site by other vehicles. During the second phase of the invamping, the staff and the load will find themselves near the permanent site, with the ability to build habitable structures. In this phase, which will last about 18 months, a staff rotation is expected. The maximum permanence will not exceed one year. The official manager of the avamation during this period will be a person whose main specialization is the construction. At this point, the outpost can comfortably support 12 men, six of which will dedicate most of their time to general maintenance and vital support ». The astronauts would have lived in pressurized housing modules, buried under the surface to protect them from radiation and micrometorites. The energy would have been provided by nuclear generators, and the presence of armaments, possibly also nuclear, for cleaning purposes, was also expected.
A plane of this reach required colossal vehicles: 147 launches of the Saturn I and II rockets were estimated to transport about 226,796 kilograms of material. The loads would have been assembled in terrestrial orbit before being sent to the moon for the construction of the base. A visionary project, but also incredibly exousive and technically too ambitious for the time. The estimated cost was approximately 6 billion dollars in 1959 (equivalent to almost 60 billion today), equal to about 15 percent of the annual American defense budget. The available technologies were not enough to carry out the outpost on scheduled times. For this reason, the Project Horizon was abandoned, and the United States concentrated their resources on a more realistic and less military program: the Apollo, which would bring the man to the moon in 1969.
