Forgotten plans to reach the Moon
Before Apollo, many ingenious lunar landing schemes were proposed that could have changed history
Before Apollo, many ingenious lunar landing schemes were proposed that could have changed history
Humanity has long fantasised about going to the Moon, but it was only in the 19th century that writers like Jules Verne and H. G. Wells began to think about using technology to make this dream a reality. The enthusiasm generated by such concepts, combined with the heating up of the Cold War, made the Moon a feasible target for exploration, propaganda and military exploitation. The outcome was several top-secret schemes developed by the US Air Force (USAF), US Army and independent privately funded contractors.
The USAF desired to be at the forefront of developing rocketry and spacecraft, feeling the urgent need to respond to the Soviet Union’s launch of Sputnik 1 on 4 October 1957. In January 1958, USAF Brigadier General Homer A. Boushey gave a speech to the Aero Club in Washington, where he stated: “He who controls the Moon controls the Earth. Our planners must carefully evaluate this statement for, if true – and I for one think it is – then the US must control the Moon.”
In February 1958 the newly formed Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) chose the USAF to run the nation’s space programs. Under the leadership of Harry Lee Evans, a comprehensive plan to conquer space was quickly put forward. Underlining the sense of urgency, the proposal was titled Man In Space Soonest (MISS). The hardware and flight capabilities of a simple oneperson, cone-shaped capsule would be tested in six robotic flights, followed by six more missions using animals to test life-support systems. Once these tests were passed, manned flights would begin. They would check out guidance and control systems, re-entry techniques and would culminate in a parachute landing at sea.
The next phase would have been the Man In Space Sophisticated (MISSOPH) program. This had three stages. The first was robotic and animal testing of a capsule that could stay in space for two weeks – the time it would take to make a Moon trip. MISSOPH II would send a spacecraft to a distance of 64,374 kilometres (40,000 miles), and test how it would cope with a re-entry speed of 38,405 kilometres (23,864 miles) per hour, the speed a craft returning from the Moon would achieve. MISSOPH III would test a shuttle that would land back on Earth like an aircraft and was planned for lunar and Earth orbital missions.
Alongside the MISSOPH missions, starting in April 1960 the USAF would have run the
Lunar Reconnaissance (LUREC) program using robotic craft. LUREC I would test tracking and communications with a spacecraft 402,336 kilometres (250,000 miles) away, while LUREC II would test the guidance systems to ensure they could accurately land a craft at a specific place on the Moon. These craft would capture TV images and gather scientific information about the Moon to enable planners to select suitable landing sites. Then LUREC III, using retrograde rockets to land on the Moon, would send back further data.
It was only after those phases that Project LUMAN would come into play in May 1962. LUMAN I would send animal flights around the Moon to test the hardware and systems before LUMAN II sent astronauts on a circumlunar flight. LUMAN III would send robot craft to land a payload on the Moon, and LUMAN IV would land on the Moon and return to Earth.
It was with LUMAN V, planned for 1965, that a single astronaut would ride a ‘Big B’ rocket to make the momentous journey to the lunar surface and
“It took a very special set of circumstances to motivate spending billions on a landing program”
Michael Neufeld