Editing Project Horizon

{{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]].}}
{{one source|date=October 2015}}
{{Refimprove|date=January 2025}}
[[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>

==Space transportation system==
Horizon was estimated to require 147 early [[Saturn A-1]] rocket launches to loft spacecraft components for assembly in [[low Earth orbit]] at a spent-tank [[space station]]. A lunar landing-and-return vehicle launched on a [[Saturn A-2]] would have shuttled up to 16 astronauts at a time to the base and back. This was in lieu of [[Nova (rocket)|a 12 million-pound thrust superbooster]] required for a direct-ascent lunar flight, which could not possibly be developed in time for the 1966 deployment target. [[Wernher von Braun]], head of ABMA, appointed [[Heinz-Hermann Koelle]] to head the [[Saturn (rocket family)|Saturn development]] project team at [[Redstone Arsenal]].<gallery>
File:Project Horizon - 2 man round trip to lunar surface.png|Required launches for a two man round trip to the lunar surface
File:Saturn B, 1959.jpg|Saturn A-1 / Saturn I configuration for Project Horizon
File:Saturn C, 1959.jpg|Saturn A-2 / Saturn II configuration for Project Horizon
File:Horizon LERV.png|Project Horizon Lunar Landing-and-Return Vehicle. 
File:Project Horizon - Lunar Space Suit.png|Lunar Space Suit
</gallery>

=== Proposed Timeline ===
*'''1964''': 40 Saturn launches.
*'''January 1965''': Cargo delivery to the Moon would begin.
*'''April 1965''': The first crewed landing by two soldiers. The build-up and construction phase would continue without interruption until the outpost was ready.
*'''November 1966''': Outpost staffed by a task force of 12 soldiers. This program would have required a total of 61 [[Saturn A-1]] and 88 [[Saturn A-2]] launches up to November 1966. During this period the rockets would transport some 220 tonnes of useful cargo to the Moon.

*'''December 1966 through 1967''': First operational year of the lunar outpost, with a total of 64 launches scheduled. These would result in an additional 120 tons of useful cargo.

== Moon Base ==

=== Location ===
[[File:Horizon - Lunar Area of Interest with Most Promising Outpost Locations.png|thumb|Lunar Area of Interest with Most Promising Outpost Locations]]
Rocket-vehicle energy requirements would have limited the location of the base to an area of 20 deg latitude/longitude on the Moon, from ~20° N, ~20° W to ~20° S, ~20° E. Within this area, the Project selected three particular sites:

* northern part of [[Sinus Aestuum]], near the [[Eratosthenes (crater)|Eratosthenes crater]]
* southern part of [[Sinus Aestuum]] near [[Sinus Medii]]
* southwest coast of [[Mare Imbrium]], just north of the [[Montes Apenninus]] mountains

=== Defenses ===
The base would be defended against [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] overland attack by manually fired weapons:

* Unguided [[Davy Crockett (nuclear device)|Davy Crockett rockets]] with low-yield [[nuclear warheads]]
* Conventional [[Claymore mines]] modified to puncture [[pressure suits]]

=== Layout ===
The basic building block for the outpost would be cylindrical metal tanks, {{convert|10|ft|m}} in diameter and {{convert|20|ft|m}} in length.

Two [[Nuclear reactor|nuclear reactors]] would be located in pits for shielding, and would provide power for operation of the preliminary quarters and for the equipment used in the construction of the permanent facility. Empty cargo and propellant containers would be assembled and used for storage of bulk supplies, weapons, and life essentials.

Two types of surface vehicles would be used, one for lifting, digging, and scraping, another for more extended distance trips needed for hauling, reconnaissance and rescue.

A lightweight [[parabolic antenna]] erected near the main quarters would provide communications with Earth. At the conclusion of the construction phase the original construction camp quarters would be converted to bio-science and physics-science laboratories.<gallery>
File:Project Horizon - Cross Section of Typical Outpost Compartment.gif|Cross Section of Typical Lunar Outpost Compartment
File:Project Horizon - Overall View of Initial Lunar Construction Camp.gif|Horizon Camp - Overall View of Initial Lunar Construction Camp
File:Project Horizon - Layout Basic 12-Man Outpost.png|Horizon First Camp - Layout of a Basic 12-Man Outpost
</gallery>

==See also==
*[[Saturn (rocket family)]]
*[[Lunex Project]]
*[[Colonization of the Moon]]
*[[Project A119]]
*[[Zvezda (moonbase)]]

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
*{{Cite book| title = Project Horizon Report: Volume I, Summary and Supporting Considerations|date=June 9, 1959| publisher = United States Army| url = https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB479/docs/EBB-Moon01_sm.pdf}}
*{{Cite book| title = Project Horizon Report: Volume II, Technical Considerations & Plans|date=June 9, 1959| publisher = United States Army| url = https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB479/docs/EBB-Moon01A_sm.pdf}}
*{{Cite web | url = https://nsarchive2.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB479/
            | title = Soldiers, Spies and the Moon: Secret U.S. and Soviet Plans from the 1950s and 1960s
            | website = The National Security Archive
            | date = July 20, 2014
            | editor-first = Jeffrey T.
            | editor-last = Richelson
            | access-date = September 18, 2021}}

==External links==

{{Moon colonization}}

[[Category:Cold War]]
[[Category:Exploration of the Moon]]
[[Category:United States Army projects]]
[[Category:Nuclear weapons program of the United States]]
[[Category:1959 establishments in the United States]]