Editing Project Horizon (section)

{{about|the 1959 military study|text="Project Horizon" may also refer to the "Common New Generation" [[Horizon-class frigate]] or the New Media Consortium's [[Horizon Project]].}}
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[[File:Project Horizon - Final Base.png|thumb|Project Horizon Lunar Outpost as it would appear by late 1965]]

'''Project Horizon''' was a 1959 study to determine the feasibility of constructing a scientific / military [[moonbase|base on the Moon]], at a time when the U.S. [[Department of the Army]], [[United States Department of the Navy|Department of the Navy]], and [[Department of the Air Force]] had total responsibility for U.S. space program plans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Ordway |first1=Frederick I. |last2=Sharpe |first2=Mitchell R. |last3=Wakeford |first3=Ronald C. |date=1988-10-01 |title=Project Horizon: An early study of a lunar outpost |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0094-5765%2888%2990194-4 |journal=Acta Astronautica |volume=17 |issue=10 |pages=1105–1121 |doi=10.1016/0094-5765(88)90194-4 |bibcode=1988AcAau..17.1105O |issn=0094-5765|url-access=subscription }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |date=2022-12-26 |title=Nearly 60 Years Ago, the U.S. Army Hatched a Plan to Put Soldiers on the Moon |url=https://www.popularmechanics.com/military/weapons/a41980861/us-army-project-horizon-moon/ |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=Popular Mechanics |language=en-US}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |title=Horizon Lunar Outpost |url=http://www.astronautix.com/h/horizonlunaroutpost.html |access-date=2023-12-16 |website=www.astronautix.com}}</ref> On June 8, 1959, a group at the [[Army Ballistic Missile Agency]] (ABMA) produced for the Army a report titled ''Project Horizon, A U.S. Army Study for the Establishment of a Lunar Military Outpost''.<ref name="Horizon" /><ref>{{Cite book |url=https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB479/docs/EBB-Moon01A_sm.pdf |title=Project Horizon Report: Volume II, Technical Considerations & Plans |date=June 9, 1959 |publisher=United States Army}}</ref> The project proposal states the requirements as:

<blockquote>The lunar outpost is required to develop and protect potential United States interests on the moon; to develop techniques in moon-based surveillance of the earth and space, in communications relay, and in operations on the surface of the moon; to serve as a base for exploration of the moon, for further exploration into space and for military operations on the moon if required; and to support scientific investigations on the moon.<ref name = "Horizon">{{cite book| author = Arthur G. Trudeau | title = Project Horizon Volume I: Summary and Supporting Considerations| url = https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB479/docs/EBB-Moon01_sm.pdf| year = 1959| publisher = [[United States Army]]| page = i}}</ref></blockquote>

The permanent outpost was predicted to be required for national security "as soon as possible", and to cost $6 billion. The projected operational date with twelve soldiers was December 1966.

Horizon never progressed past the feasibility stage, being rejected by President [[Dwight Eisenhower]] when primary responsibility for America's space program was transferred to the civilian agency [[NASA]].<ref name=JFK>{{cite book |last=Logsdon |first=John |title=John F. Kennedy and the Race to the Moon |publisher=[[Palgrave Macmillan]] |date=2010 |isbn=978-0-230-11010-6}}</ref>