The United States had plans to deploy a military base on the moon with reconnaissance functions and a permanent garrison to defend it against possible attack. The approximate cost of the project, which began to prepare in 1959, was, according to various sources, from 5 to 6 billion dollars. A 100-page report revealing some of the details of this project was declassified in honor of the 45th anniversary of the American astronauts landing on the moon. The project of the American military base on the Moon was named "Horizon".
This project was aimed mainly at organizing surveillance of our planet from the surface of a natural satellite of the Earth. To some extent, American plans have come true today without the presence of lunar military bases: a large number of American reconnaissance satellites are currently flying around the Earth. The published report also said that within the framework of the Horizon project, it was planned to create a system of weapons capable, if necessary, of striking the earth's surface or in outer space. According to published information, Project Horizon has reached the stage of discussing potential locations for the deployment of a lunar military base.
“A military base on the moon is necessary to ensure the protection and development of potential US interests on the Earth satellite; for the development of techniques for tracking the planet and space from the moon. This base should become a center for space and lunar exploration, scientific research and military operations on the Moon, if any,”- according to a published report, which was prepared by the US Army's ballistic missile agency.
For the construction of the lunar base, it was planned to attract 16 astronauts, as well as to carry out about 150 launches of Saturn-class rockets, which were supposed to deliver more than 200 tons of various construction materials into space. In the future, the constructed facility was supposed to be guarded by 12 specially trained soldiers. For the base to function successfully, it had to receive two small nuclear reactors. The Horizon project even discussed possible research on the effects of radiation on alien life forms.
The authors of the Horizon project took their brainchild seriously enough, not considering the project as a fantasy far from being possible. They were not only engaged in the selection of locations for the deployment of the base, but also substantiated the timing of the solution of the main technical tasks for the project, justified the necessary costs. It was planned to deploy a military base on the moon in 5 stages:
1. The first return of lunar soil samples to Earth - November 1964.
2. The first landing on the moon of astronauts and their subsequent return back to Earth - August 1967.
3. Time base on the lunar surface for 12 people - November 1967.
4. Completion of construction of a lunar base for 21 people - December 1968.
5 Full operational lunar base - June 1969.
Two promising missiles were considered as the main means of cargo delivery: Saturn I and Saturn II. The designers believed that the first of them would be put into mass production in October 1963, and the second during 1964. First, two astronauts were to land on the lunar surface, who would have been there until the arrival of the first construction party of 9 people. 6 months after that, the first, so far temporary, base was to start functioning on the lunar surface.
According to Air Force experts, the total cost of the Horizon program was supposed to be about $ 6 billion. This project was strictly classified, but there were occasional "leaks" of information, and some information about the "Horizon" project became public even before the publication of the report for the 45th anniversary of the landing of the first man on the moon. In many ways, the leaks were due to the fact that it was simply decided to abandon the project.
At the turn of the 1960s, the topic of a military lunar base was popular in American specialized literature. For example, the magazine “U. S. News and World Report”, expressing the dreams of some American generals, already in February 1958 wrote about plans to create a lunar base. At the same time, the representative of the US Department of Defense Edson noted that the seizure of "territories on the moon" should be the main goal of US foreign policy, since the "lunar fortress" can become the key to a successful solution to the rivalry on the planet. Another Pentagon spokesman, Bracker, talked about the development of a map of American military bases on a natural satellite of the Earth, which covers 70 regions of the lunar surface.
On the pages of Air Force magazine in November 1958, Lieutenant Colonel Singer, who worked at the Air Force Special Weapons Center, said that from a purely military point of view, the basis for intimidating the enemy could be the possibility of striking regardless of his actions. This assumed that their own forces would be located either in complete safety from a possible attack, or would be organized in such a way that their elements that survived the attack would strike the enemy with a blow of monstrous power.
Hence the idea of placing rockets on the lunar surface arose. In this case, the launch pads of the rockets could be under the lunar surface. The topographic characteristics of the satellite and the presence of a large number of cracks and craters on the lunar surface made it possible to select locations for the location of rocket bases. In discussing military operations in space, Lt. Col. Singer emphasized that the Moon and all space in the future may become the most suitable place for warfare.
According to another high-ranking American military officer, Brigadier General Boushey, missile bases on the lunar surface would be difficult to hit, even if the probable enemy knew everything about their location. Because of this, military bases on the moon became an insoluble problem for any US adversary. Even if the enemy were to launch a preemptive strike on the lunar base, he would have to do it 2.5 days before launching a missile strike on the territory of the United States. In such conditions, a retaliatory strike from the moon became a reliable and massive means of influencing the aggressor.
The motives for such judgments of American officers and military specialists were explained by the head of the US Air Force Special Weapons Directorate as part of his speech to representatives of Congress. “I hate the very idea that the Russians will be the first to land on the moon. The country that will be the first on the moon is likely to gain decisive advantages over any of its potential adversaries."
Obviously, President John F. Kennedy's decision to start work on the civilian Apollo project did not in many ways coincide with the intention of the specialists in charge of the Horizon project and intend to create a purely military facility on the Moon. However, in the end, it was the Apollo project that was implemented. On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin were the first to land on the moon in the Eagle module. In front of millions of TV viewers who watched the landing live, Neil Armstrong jumped from the last stage of the lunar lander and took the first step to the lunar surface. He stayed on the surface of a natural satellite of the Earth for 2 hours and 21 minutes. Buzz Aldrin became the second person who had a chance to step on a celestial body, he made a kilometer walk on the surface of the satellite.
